During preseason, coaches have a tendency to have their team play against more difficult teams, preparing the team and creating excitement for the upcoming season. Varsity softball coach, Jim Duffy, jumped on board to this growing trend and had the girls play North Attleboro on Saturday, March 24. North Attleboro is a competitive team that let the softball team work out the kinks in their first difficult preseason game.

Right off the bat junior Bridget Nicholson drove the ball out into right field. Unfortunately, North Attleboro’s right fielder was positioned well and caught the ball.  Despite other good hits from senior Katie Cavaca and juniors Lauren Bodin and Jess Cochrane, there were no runs scored by Walpole in the first inning.

For two innings Walpole’s pitcher, junior Marissa Ryan, and the other fielders put up a fight and were able to hold the North Attleboro from scoring. By the third inning through a series of pop flies and balls sneaking through the infield, a runner was finally able to make it home.

The bats were not coming around fast enough for Walpole batters against North Attleboro’s pitcher, when Walpole did make contact with the ball, their opponents seemed to always be in the right place at the right time to make good plays. Even when Walpole batters made it on base they could not seem to find home plate.

With a 1-0 score, sophomore Mehron Hoag took the mound. The first batter Hoag faced hit a line drive right back at her, hitting her directly in the ankle. It seemed that her pitching was affected by this blow to the ankle as five runs were scored against her in the three innings she pitched.

With North Attleboro in the lead sophomore Stephanie Sem began her pitching career on Varsity. In two quick innings Sem managed to strike out four batters.

Walpole’s players were getting a chance to try out new spots and swinging the bat against speed. Even though the bats were not as alive as Coach Duffy would have liked, the team  still learned a lot throughout the game.

The final score was 6-0. With this game under their belts,  the team now can improve and work on the mistakes they may have made. The team learned that runners are going to be running the bases aggressively this year and can now prepare mentally for this. With the team now readily thinking about how they can improve, they are ready to begin the new season on a good note.