POSTPONED: MHS Girls Softball Team Opens Season Against Rogers

Editor's Note: Tuesday's game has been postponed to Wednesday due to weather.

The Middletown High School varsity girls softball team will open their regular season at home on Tuesday when Rogers High comes to town.

After their scheduled opening day game on April 1 was postponed due to weather, the Islanders will have the opportunity to start their season on their home field against a division rival. This game has become the de facto opening day game. The first game is always important. It is a game that can set the tone for the season.

The Division II South Islanders have 20 games in total on their 2011 schedule, in a  division comprised of the Islanders from Middletown, Narragansett, Portsmouth, Rogers, South Kingstown, and Prout.  

According to the RIIL website, the Islanders have 9 home games and will travel for 11. It will certainly be a tough division this year. A division that has Island rivals that Middletown has a long sports history with.  

Head Coach Robin Ramey has her team ready. They run many batting and fielding drills at practice. They have hand-eye coordination batting drills, in which they use a thin stick to hit golf balls. They have a regulation softball batting cage to practice their swings, working on the tweaks that are needed before stepping on the field in a game that will matter.

Co-Captain Lauren Paiva, who was the 2011 Division III Girls Basketball Tournament MVP on a team that took home that title, is just as vocal and omnipresent on the softball field as she was on the basketball court. It's not just Lauren's voice you hear. It's everyone's. In practice during battling and fielding drills. In scrimmage games. They cheer loudly for each other. A Middletown staple. They talk to each other about everything. Mechanics, pitch selections, fielding flubs, among others. They look and carry themselves as a confident, synchronized unit.

Co-Captain Brittany Lewis can be seen in several different positions on the field, like many of her teammates.  She was on third base during practice one day, and then on the mound against Pilgrim High in a scrimmage.  

There are many familiar faces on the field that played other sports at MHS. Nina Traglia, Chelsea Dowler, Glenn Murphy, and co-captain Lauren Paiva, among others.

One thing is certain. They look ready. They play like they're ready. Their coach is just as vocal and encouraging of her team as they are to each other.

The Islanders will begin their 2011 season on Tuesday when they host the Rogers Vikings.  First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.

The game against North Kingstown, which was canceled this past Friday due to the weather, is rescheduled for Saturday April 23 at Ryan Park in North Kingstown. First pitch for that game is 1:30 p.m.

How far will they go this year?  

Check back with Patch to find out.