What was the biggest challenge you or your team faced this season and how did you overcome it? The biggest challenge our team faced this season was the lack of experience. We had three or four starting positions played by freshmen this year, so just them realizing the difference in the level of play from middle school ball to high school ball was hard at first. They were forced to have to adapt very quickly to the level of play since we had so many positions that we needed to fill from last year. Then on top of that, it was hard at first to find that chemistry a team needs, since our starting lineup was seniors and juniors who have played most of their career with one another and then freshmen who we had never played with. However, the upperclassmen did a nice job of incorporating the younger girls and making them feel welcome and confident in their abilities. Them feeling comfortable played a huge part in our success this season. Then in turn, the freshmen did a great job of coming to practice everyday, and working hard for their spots. Even after earning starting positions they continued to work hard to keep them. All of the freshmen worked hard this season, but two in particular that I wanted to point out were Becca Fleming and Kelley Allen. Both of them came to practice everyday ready to work their hardest and were very open to receiving new information. Their ability to play multiple positions really helped our team this year. This season Becca caught a few innings for our team, she played outfield for us and then was eventually moved into her position at second base where she was really solid for us. She never complained once, she took the information that was being thrown at her and applied it. Kelley was able to give us a few innings here and there on the mound, and then play a solid outfield for us. It’s girls like that, that helped us be successful this season. Both of those athletes are going to have very successful futures as Red Raiders.
Who was the unsung hero of your team? The really amazing thing about our team was that we didn’t have one person to bail us out all the time. Each night it was someone different. We could give up a few runs, and all of a sudden the next inning go out and rally back with a triple or consecutive hits strung together. Our team never gave up, that’s for sure. We all picked each other up every game.
If you could improve high school softball in New Hampshire, what would you do? I would definitely try to make it more competitive along with giving the lower divisions such as D-III much more credit.
Do you have any sports superstitions? If so, what are they? Really, the only superstitions I have for softball, besides not stepping on the white lines, are routine things. I put my batting gloves on the same way before each at bat, left before right. I do the same warmup routine in the on-deck circle. Then each time before I get up to the plate, I hit the handle of my bat off my cleats. I hit the left cleat first once, then the right cleat twice.
What are some of the unwritten rules of your sport? Some unwritten rules for softball, at least in Belmont, would be don’t sit on the catcher’s bucket in the dugout. Let up on stealing home if you’re destroying a team. Keep home run celebrations to a respectful level, etc.
Who on your team, coaches included, reminds you of a character in a TV show or movie?
This year our team kind of had this running joke where we’d call our coach, Bill Clary, Pauly D from
Jersey Shore because he’d always say “cabs are here.” Either that or our
other coach, Bill Hart, reminds me of Santa.
If life were a video game, what would some of the cheat codes be? Boy I wish I knew.
What is something that is really popular now, but in five years everyone will look back on and be embarrassed by? Probably the amount of time and money they’ve invested in Fortnite.
Where do you get your news? Usually the Concord Monitor. Either that or my dad.
What are the best and worst purchases you’ve ever made? The best purchase I’ve made was by far my subscription to WWE Network. You get to watch everything on there – all the pay-per-view events for a great price and all the added on shows. I mean, they just give you the works, it’s great. I highly recommend it. The worst purchase I’ve made was definitely the violin I bought a few years back. After watching a movie about a musically inclined teen, I decided I wanted to learn how to play the violin – just as a hobby … Well it’s been three years since my purchase, and I’ve taken that thing out of its case maybe three times. So if anyone is looking for a slightly used violin, I’m your girl.
What’s the most ridiculous fact you know? I guess it would be that banging your head against the wall burns 150 calories per hour.
What’s invisible but you wish people could see? I wish people could actually see germs.
If you could go to school in a foreign country, which country would you pick and why? Ireland, for sure. I have a lot of Irish heritage so it would be cool to go and learn about my ancestors’ culture, and I would love to listen to the accent all day.
If animals could talk, which would be the rudest? I’m not really sure why but I feel like a poodle would be really rude and just stuck up.
What questions would you like to ask a time traveler from 200 years in the future? I’d like to ask them how the food is in the future and I guess just how much has changed, especially in the wrestling world.
If you were hired to show tourists what life is really like where you live, what would you show them / have them do? I’d take them to a lot of restaurants, since I love eating food and there’s not really much else to do around here. I might take them to a ball game too.
What is the craziest thing one of your teachers has done? The craziest thing one of my teachers has done would probably have to be when they walked in the room, grabbed a student’s muffin who wasn’t in the room at the time and just chucked it at the wall as hard as he could. Then, he kept walking as if nothing had happened.
What’s the best thing about being a teen? What’s the worst? The best thing about being a teen is that you don’t have to deal with the everyday pressures of the real world yet. However, the worst thing about being a teen would be just the process of trying to figure out who you are and where you fit in the world.