Season Preview: Medford Softball Eyes Return to Tourney

The goal of the Medford softball teams this season is simple: make the tournament again and take it one step further.

The Mustangs finished 10-8 in the regular season last year, but fell in the first round of the tournament to Westford.

Jack Dempsey will be retuning a lot of players from the team lat year, but will be without three-time GBL All-Star Nicole Lopilato. But with the deep roster, team depth is a good problem for the head coach to have.

“We have some good quality players, and it’s going to be very difficult to figure out who is playing all the time,” said Dempsey.

The strength of this team, according to the head coach, will be the depth of the lineup. That all starts with the top two spots.

Kristina Bove and Kasey Moran create havoc at the top of the lineup with their ability to put pressure on the opponents’ defense. Both players hit from the left-side and like to use the slap-technique, where they will almost use a running-bunt to try and find holes in the defense and use their speed to get on base.

Having that ability from one player is nice, but having back-to-back players is a weapon Dempsey likes to unleash whenever he can.

“That’s the best weapon that we have against a good pitcher,” Dempsey said. “You are making her think all the time and it upsets everyone. Every opponent has to think quicker of what position they have to go to make the play. It’s a pretty good advantage.”

The rest of the lineup will be a revolving door, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Dempsey hasn’t had the ability to get outside and see the girls hit in live batting practice yet, but there will be plenty of players looking to step in to the role of RBI machine.

Jackie Pellacchia, Sarah Moulton, Emily Welch and Victoria Luongo will all look to step in to the three or four hole to hit behind the speed at the top of the lineup. All four players have the ability to hit the ball to all field, said Dempsey, and that depth will make for a deep lineup no matter where they hit.

On the mound will be Bove and Rayanna Staude. Both pitchers have the abilty to get outs in a variety of ways, but the big strikeout pitcher that can carry a team is missing from the team.

All that means is that the defense behind the two talented pitchers will have to be on their toes.

“Our pitching and a lot of the other pitching may strike out one or two,” said Dempsey. “Automatically you are giving them eight more opportunities on the field, and we have to make that up. The ball is going to be in play, so our defense better be sharp.”