Experienced Softball Team Begins Season Today
David Creed •
As softball head coach Grace-Anne Tornovish prepares for her third season as the leader of Nantucket’s softball program, she feels optimistic about her team’s odds of having a strong season with 11 players returning from last year’s team.
"We have 11 returners, so we have a strong core coming back," Tornovish said. "We look pretty good. That's always nice to not have to figure things out during the preseason. Most of them were starters last year. That's really nice that we can kind of pick up where we left off, which makes it a lot easier to not have to reteach everything.”
There is plenty of reason to feel this group's best softball is ahead of them after they won eight of their final 11 regular season games last year to sneak into the tournament’s preliminary stages following a 2-4 start.
Nantucket will return both of their pitchers in senior Seren Cristler and junior Lil Wullschleger. Cristler, who was named the Cape & Islands MVP last spring for her performance on the mound, appeared to have more zip on the ball during one of her practices sessions this week. Cristler has always been an accurate pitcher that doesn't walk many batters and will provide Tornovish with an experienced arm to go along with Wullschleger who has experience herself. Both pitchers are working with assistant coach Kelly Mayette, who pitched at the college level for Stonehill’s team. Farrell Duce, a former Nantucket softball player, has also joined the staff as an assistant.
“Seren is speedy and we have Kelly working with her as our assistant coach,” Tornovish said. “It is awesome to have Kelly’s knowledge from her experience as a pitcher and playing at Stonehill to help the girls and stuff.”
The lineup will need to replace two of its top bats from last year in Sydney Ard and Yahely Del Rosario Gomez. Tornovish said it will be a by-committee approach.
“We did lose some very good hitters but so far all of our returners have been working very hard,” Tornovish said. “I think all of our players have the potential to hit it hard and get on base. It is going to need to be a team effort.”
As for some potential team goals, Tornovish said it is simple... Take a step forward on their 10-7 season they had last year.
"I just want us to progress from last year and keep moving forward," she said. "Last year we started off a little slow and then we got into our little winning streak (six wins between May 3rd and May 18th to improve to 8-4). So, I'm hoping that we can start off strong, keep it going, and getting better throughout the season.”
The Whalers will begin their regular season on Friday, March 28th on the road against Barnstable High School at 3:30 p.m. You can view the softball team’s schedule here.
