FILE PHOTO
The Sachems will rely on Caity Sheehan’s bat this spring.
By MIKE ALONGI
The real challenge will start this year for Saugus softball coach Steve Almquist. It appears that the Sachems will be going through a period of transition in 2017 after losing eight seniors, including an All-Northeastern Conference pitcher, to graduation last year.
“It will definitely be a different looking team this year, that’s for sure,” said Almquist, now in his second year as head coach. “There’s a real possibility that we could end up starting seven freshmen and sophomores this season. We have so many positions open and we have a great group of girls who are working hard already to try to fill those spots.”
The senior-laden Sachems went 13-7 last season, good enough for the No. 10 seed in the Division 2 North tournament. Their season came to a fast end, however, as they fell to NEC rival Swampscott in the first round.
Coming into this season, Saugus has a few key position players returning but not much else. The Sachems’ top two hitters from last season, NEC All-Star seniors Caity Sheehan (.472, 7 HR, 28 RBI) and Alex Almquist (.483) will return to third base and second base, respectively, while sophomore centerfielder Emma Howard (.389) will move in and play shortstop this year. That might sound like an odd transition to make, but Howard already has experience at shortstop in AAU play.
“Shortstop is the position she plays in AAU ball, and she’s a natural infielder,” Almquist said. “She’s also one of the better athletes on the team, and she might do some pitching for us as well this year.”
Pitching is one of the big areas of question for the Sachems this year after arguably being the team’s biggest strength last season. Saugus lost All-NEC pitcher Brooke Westmoreland, who anchored the rotation all year. Now, it will be up to a rotation of Howard, junior Brittney Sudanowicz and freshman Caitlyn Wood to keep the Sachems in games this season.
“Pitching will certainly be a bigger challenge than it was last year, as it is any time you lose an all-conference caliber pitcher,” said Almquist. “But we have some very talented players that will get an opportunity this year, so we’re excited to see what happens.”
The Sachems haven’t been able to get outside quite yet, as practices started on Monday in the gymnasium. But that’s going to change tomorrow afternoon, as they will take a trip to Georgetown to play three abbreviated scrimmage games against Georgetown, Greater Lowell and Manchester-Essex. They will also play two more scrimmage games next week against Latin Academy before opening up the season on Thursday, April 6 on the road against Arlington.