ITEM PHOTO BY KATIE MORRISON
Caitlin Geaney takes batting practice in a makeshift cage in English’s gym.
By HAROLD RIVERA
Last spring, the Lynn English softball team endured a tougher season than it was hoping for. The Bulldogs were unable to notch a win in 2016 and will now look to bounce back with a new, albeit familiar, face at the helm.
Cara Crowley, a 2010 English alum and former Bulldogs catcher, takes over for Jack Bartlett as the team’s new coach. Crowley served under Bartlett as an assistant for two seasons and is optimistic that her familiarity with the team will aid her in the new role.
“I think knowing all the players will help a great amount,” Crowley said. “They’re all very excited and working hard. We didn’t lose anybody from last year so we have a lot of talent coming back. The seniors have shown leadership by helping out the younger girls. It’s been a good atmosphere these past couple days.”
Captaining the Bulldogs this season will be a pair of athletic and experienced seniors in shortstop Rachel Calnan and second baseman Emma Trahant. Both captains have earned full confidence from their new coach.
“Rachel has been a captain since (she was) a sophomore and she’s done a great job,” Crowley said. “She takes it very intensely, which we need at times. They’re both great girls. They’ve stepped up the past few days. With them and the other seniors being role models for the younger girls, I think our team will run very smoothly this year.”
Other key returners for the Bulldogs include seniors Lindsey Lannon and Sarah Tobin, and junior Tommi Hill. Lannon and Tobin will look to form a strong pitcher-catcher duo, while Hill aims to hold down the fort at third base. Hill will also be relied on for offensive production.
“She’s (Hill) one of our better hitters,” Crowley said.
With a strong nucleus of experienced returners, leadership will be one of English’s strong areas this upcoming season.
“I think our leadership will help a lot, having a lot of returners,” Crowley said. “We have pretty much the same team coming back plus a few new girls that are trying out. They’re all working hard and that’ll help a lot. They’re taking this very seriously and that’ll show when the season starts.”
An area for improvement from last season’s struggles will be the correcting errors on the mental side of the game. Mental mistakes often hurt English last spring and Crowley’s looking for her team to be stronger in that sense this year.
“I think we were afraid to make errors and they let that get into their heads and they got scared,” Crowley said. “This year we want them not to worry about that stuff and just play. I think that will help them a lot.”
With two preseason practices under their belts, the Bulldogs are taking a day by day approach as they prepare for the start of the new season. Crowley likes what she sees from her team thus far, especially given that English has produced a strong showing in numbers.
“We had about 40-75 girls which is good,” Crowley said. “This year we’ll be able to have a JV team. A lot of the girls that play other sports are encouraging their friends to try softball. We have a lot of good athletes trying out. There’s a lot of potential so we’re very optimistic about this year.”
Crowley, who split her college career between St. Anselm and Salem State as an outfielder, added, “We really want to build up our JV program. I think we can do that with the numbers this year. We really want to improve and think we’ll have a better record. Once the girls get their rhythm, it’ll progress throughout the season.”
English opens the season on April 6 against Gloucester.
“Everyone’s been working hard and staying focused,” Crowley said. “It’ll show. I think we’ll be a lot better than we were last year.”