By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

After losing their starting pitcher Madison McDermott to a major injury early in the season last spring the Douglas softball team, found themselves in a tough predicament and were only able to secure five wins. McDermott, now a junior, will eventually find her way back into the circle for the Tigers, but the rest of the team is still going to be very young. 

 “We were young last year and we will be young once again this season, it’s just the way things played out” Douglas Coach John Furno said. “We have seven middle schoolers (7th and 8th graders) on a team of 15 total players.”

Senior Emily Hamelin will join McDermott as captains of the squad this spring. Hamelin was a centerfielder for the Tigers last year, but will find herself playing first base this season filling in the vacant position. In the circle, McDermott has great movement on her ball with a good changeup, curveball and drop ball. 

While McDermott will not see action for a few games once the season gets underway, Furno is confident in her back-up eighth grader Addison Trudeau.

“When Madison went down last year, Addison threw a lot of innings for us and coming into this year she knew that she would get the opportunity to once again be our starting pitcher,” the Douglas coach said. “She worked really hard on getting bigger and stronger during the off-season. She has come into her own and is more confident and ready to go.”

Behind the plate looking to share time are two catchers who also happen to be the sisters of the two pitchers: eighth grader and twin sister to Addison, Jasmine Trudeau and freshman Ayla McDermott, younger sister of Madison. According to the coach, it looks as though whoever is in the circle for a particular game; their sibling will be behind the plate.

 “More than likely the sister will catch for their sister. With Addison getting the ball for the first few games, Jasmine will get the start behind the plate,” Furno said. “When Madison gets back, Ayla will catch. I feel that having the sister behind the plate brings more stability and they work better together. Ayla has more size and experience, but both girls are good catchers and we’re not either way on the field.”

Offensively the Tigers will be powered by Hamelin and the McDermott sisters. The elder McDermott will most likely bat in the cleanup spot, while Hamelin will be in the three spot for the Tigers. Emma Kagels, who will play either shortstop or second base for the team, looks to be the team’s leadoff hitter. She has a knack of getting on base either by drawing the walk or reaching via the slap bunt from the left side.

Freshman Ariana Delgardo, now a three-sport athlete, had never touched a softball until last year but Furno believes she is a natural athlete with the skills to play the game. She is very fast and will find herself playing second base or patrolling the outfield for Douglas this season. 

Furno noted that a couple of seventh graders making the team have shown promise: Madelyn Hogan and Lexi Thibault, both of whom will see playing time in the outfield.

“A lot of the younger girls have been playing together for a long time,” Furno said. “Playing in the town youth softball league they have won the championship the last three years.”

Despite being a young team, Furno is hoping that the girls can put together at least a .500 season to get them into the playoffs and, once there, he made it clear that anything can happen; it all depends on the seedings. If Douglas plays their typically strong defense and the pitching comes through, the Tigers should be looking at a berth in the State Tournament.