It took a couple of innings for the Pioneers to get the bats going in their season opener, but once they did, there was no stopping them to beat visiting Boston Latin, 10-5, on Tuesday, April 2.
Morgan Hubbard (2-for-4) smashed a 3-run, inside-the-park home run. Kaila George (3-for-4, triple, stolen base, run) and Lily Williams (2-for-3, 2 runs, RBI) also had multiple-hit games. Ava Gamache (2 RBI, double), Catie Kampersal (1-for-4, run, RBI) Olivia Kelter (1-for-4, run) also had hits. Sophia Brown (7 IP, 3 hits, 4 earned runs) struck out nine to earn the win in the circle.
Tied, 2-2, going into the fifth inning, the Pioneers exploded for eight runs across the final three innings to seal the Wolfpack’s fate.
Hector Longo, now in his second year as head coach, said that the team is much better prepared going into the season than last year.
“We got so much more done this season with the good weather,” he said. “I think it shows, but not so much today. If we don’t defend, we have problems. We pride ourselves on our defense. It felt great to win the first one.”
Gamache, Kampersal, and Brown, all seniors, are this year’s captains. Gamache, a four-year varsity veteran, returns as a two-time Cape Ann League All-Conference All-star at third base.
“She’s tremendous at third over there,” he said. “And she’s going to be even better this year.”
Brown is a four-year varsity veteran and three-year starter.
“Man, she’s a competitor,” Longo said. “She pounds the strike zone so more teams put the ball in play, which is why we need to play good defense. She had a few walks today, but that’s not her. She is a strike machine. She showed me so much last year, just guts-wise. We won 12 games last year and won a Round of 32 game on the road as a No. 24 seed in the tournament and so much of it was her just battling. She is such a competitor. I love watching her pitch because she gives you so much and competes so hard.”
Kampersal, a three-year starter, returns in center field.
“She covers a lot of ground in the outfield and can fly on the bases,” Longo said.
As senior leaders, Longo feels that “this is their year.”
“I love what all three captains bring to our program and they know how I feel about the team,” Longo said. “The program is about the girls. They accept the responsibilities of leadership that go with that… Ava is the best assistant coach I’ve had in any sport in 30 years of coaching. I learned quickly last year how into the game she was. She knows every situation, every pitch. She moves players into proper spots and is constantly talking. She’s a gamer. And she has the talent to go with it… Sophia might have been the biggest surprise in my first year. She’s this tiny little thing who battles like a heavyweight boxer on every pitch. We had a couple times where we kicked it around behind her last year, and her outlook never changed. She was ready to battle on the next pitch…Catie is everything a coach could want in an athlete. A three-sport standout. Team-first attitude. There wasn’t a day last year that she didn’t show up to the field with a smile on her face.”
Hubbard, a junior and CAL All-Star, returns as a three-year varsity starter at shortstop.
“She should have been an all-league player last year. She’s going to be very good for us at shortstop,” Longo said.
According to Longo, Williams, a sophomore catcher, “played every inning last year and is just very solid.”
Junior second baseman Libby Considine was a part-time starter last year, splitting time with Kaila George, a junior, who is now the starting left fielder.
New to the team are junior first baseman Julia Corrente, sophomore right fielder Olivia Kelter and reserves Gia Gagnon, a pitcher, described by Longo as “very promising,” freshman corner infielder Chloe McEwan, and junior outfielder Sierra Scanlon.
As far as the league goes, Longo said the league is “really tough again” this year.
“Triton is probably the best team. They went to the Division 3 Final Four last year. Their pitcher was the CAL Player of the Year and she is back. She’s really good, but everybody in the league is good. Pentucket also has its pitcher back, who is also really good.”
Longo said Newburyport and North Reading will also be strong.
“North Reading is always North Reading,” he said. “They are King Kong. I think last year, we beat them and it was the first time in nine or 10 years we beat them, so they are always tough.”
