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St. Luke’s Softball Aiming for A Three-peat
The St. Luke’s Softball team is heading into the 2017 season with major aspirations and will be looking to repeat the accomplishments of the last two years—winning back-to-back FAA and New England Championships.
The wildly successful program, led by Head Coach Troy Haynie, knows that the success they have enjoyed means they will again carry a target on their back this campaign with all the other schools looking to knock them off the top.
Haynie remains confident in his team’s ability and acknowledges that their goal is to win the FAA and New England Championships for a third straight year: “The ultimate goal is to three-peat, which I think is attainable. However, I tell the girls every year nobody shows up to lose and we are a marked team so we are going to have to be at our best.”
The veteran coach knows it will be another difficult season but has been impressed with what he has seen from the group so far in preseason: “Preseason so far has been fantastic. One of the big things this year is our depth. We have two kids for every position, which is nice. I believe this will keep us competitive all season.”
The majority of the team traveled to Florida for the annual preseason trip to the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex last week and spent five days training as well as playing a number of scrimmages against some tough opposition.
Haynie has much of his squad returning as Ali Trager ‘16 was the only senior on the team last year and he is excited with the players at his disposal: “I think we have one of, if not the best player in the league in Noelle Ruschil and we expect a lot from her this season. We also have Maya Klein returning having missed all last year with a back injury. She batted just under .500 as a Freshman so I’m excited to have her back as a Junior. We also have Allis Ferris who is a returning all-league player, Courtney Newman another returning all-league player and on the Hill, Riley Page is only a Sophomore who had a 1.42 ERA as a freshman. With another year under her belt we are looking forward to seeing what she can do too. We look strong.”
The Storm’s biggest challenges this season will be tough competition from Rye Country Day School, The Hopkins School, King School and Hamden Hall.
Although the ultimate target is to repeat, Haynie says they have a number of other goals this season: “I have the girls set individual goals each season and, as a coach, I focus on how I can help them attain those goals. My aim—for the girls to come together as a team and to see the leadership qualities evolve.”
The St. Luke’s Varsity Softball team start the defense of their title on Wednesday, April 5 on the road to The Canterbury School. First pitch is scheduled for 4pm.
St. Luke’s School is a secular (non-religious), private school in New Canaan, CT for grades 5 through 12 serving over 40 towns in Connecticut and New York. Our exceptional academics and diverse co-educational community foster students’ intellectual and ethical development and prepare them for top colleges. St. Luke’s Leading with Humanity curriculum builds the commitment to serve and the confidence to lead.
