The Oriole dugout was as quiet as the Oriole bats during Conant’s softball season opener Monday afternoon, and the lack of energy gave the Orioles one to grow on.
“There was no energy,” Conant head coach Heather Linstad said after the 11-2 loss to visiting Hopkinton. “We weren’t backing up plays and we weren’t running … We’re a young team, and I think they’re waiting to see how good Hopkinton is to see how good they can be instead of going out and playing.”
The Hawks were good, as Ella-Mai Johnson (5 IP, 8K, 1 ER) and Avery Loew (2 IP, 2K, 1H) combined for a dominant day, striking out four Oriole batters looking on low-and-away pitches — a telltale sign of a team that needs to get more aggressive.
“We’ve got athleticism, we’ve got kids that really can hit, and we’ve gotta put the bat on the ball,” Linstad said. “We should have speed on the base paths to confuse defenses.Those are things that we need to exploit. Of course, you gotta get on though. If you’re down, you got two strikes on you, you gotta battle, you gotta go out and foul it off.”
Conant got a solid pitching performance from Mackenzie McFarland (CG, 5 ER, 5K) in her varsity debut, as it was a couple of errors that allowed Hopkinton to get their big lead. And at the plate, the Orioles couldn’t catch a break, with several hard-hit balls right into the opponents’ gloves and two prime scoring chances ended by throw-outs at the plate.
The Orioles are a young team, indeed, but they have a trio of senior captains that delivered on Monday afternoon and should be the driving force behind Conant’s success this season. Catcher Violet Bennett (1-3, RBI), center fielder Sophia Spingola (2-4, R) and first baseman Khloe Kirby (0-1, 2BB) are as good a triumvirate of upperclassmen as you’ll find.
“We’re going to go as far as those three take us,” Linstad said, “and I think that they’re a confident trio. They’ll push and get the other kids to feel the confidence in themselves and do what they’re supposed to do.”
Aside from returners Merry Hill, Josie Seppala and Ella Desrosiers – the left side of the infield – Conant’s added left fielder Autumn Burgoyne and right fielder Reagan Boudreau, both of whom got their first varsity hits on Monday. If the younger players can make the leap, the Orioles have a shot at achieving at least one team goal – making it past the first round of the playoffs for the first time in six years.
“They want to end it making it to the playoffs and beyond,” Linstad said. “Beyond that first one especially, and if nothing else, if we’re hosting a home game, that we win the home game.”
Conant (0-1) was set to play at Hillsboro-Deering Wednesday afternoon and then travel to Trinity on Friday.
