The young players on the 2022 Warren Hills Softball Team have been accumulating valuable experience that is sure to serve them well in upcoming seasons.
This year’s varsity team, led by Head Coach Jodi Longo and Assistant Coach Renee Smola, consists of many young players and only two seniors, Taryn Faccenda and Julia Podobed, who are the captains for the 2022 season, which opened April 1.
A key player who fits in well with the seniors is junior Macy Pagano, who was also elected captain at the start of the season.
Pagano started her varsity career as a freshman behind the plate. Midway through May, Pagano was leading the team in home runs and runs batted in (RBIs).
“Macy is an amazing role model for the first-year girls,” Longo said. “She welcomes new girls to the team with open arms.’’
Pagano demonstrates an amazing work ethic, along with her hard work and dedication to the sport, her coaches say.
Although she has been a part of the team for not quite three seasons, Pagano is an outstanding upperclassman to those who look up to her.
“We have a very young team and we are still learning more and more every game,” said Pagano, “but I am very excited for the years ahead of this team.”
Pagano controls these games from behind the plate, and she constantly demonstrates the ability to pick up the spirits of her teammates whenever they need it.
“Macy is our power hitter, just like in years previous,” Longo said. “As a coach, I trust her to make the right calls behind the plate, and I trust she will do her job when in the batter’s box.’’
The team depends on Pagano’s experience and consistency due to the youthfulness of the other players.
Despite their youth, though, the Lady Streaks have remained competitive throughout the current season. Longo says they take on every challenge with everything they have.
“Softball is a game where you will fail more than you will succeed,’’ Longo said.
The players take this philosophy onto the field every day, enabling them to play to the best of their abilities.
Their 2022 season started off with more defeats than they had hoped for, but going into the second half of the season, they came out even stronger than before.
“We are finally starting to see these girls play like we have known they could,’’ Smola said.
Longo continuously notes that “these girls are so coachable and such a joy to be around.”
The Lady Streaks’ record was improving at the time of this writing, with only four games left in the regular season. As of May 11, their record stood at 6 wins and 7 losses.
At that point, Pagano was leading the team with five home runs and 19 RBIs; sophomore Mia Ganter had scored 17 runs; and freshman pitcher Laney Adie had accumulated 29 strikeouts on the season. Their regular season is scheduled to come to an end May 18.