Warriors had a strong campaign with a very young team
THE WMHS varsity softball team posted a 14-7 overall and clinched a state tournament berth this past spring. In the front row (left to right) are Alexis Truesdale, Nicole Gasdia, Amanda Boulter, Hayley Kaddaras, Emma Kraus, Mia Romano and Meagan Gibbons. In the back row (from left to right) are Head Coach Rick Quattrocchi, Joe Elcewicz, Meghan Burnett, Nicole Catino, Hannah Dziadyk, Olivia Dziadyk, Vanessa Kaddaras, Assistant Coach Steph Martin and Assistant Coach Kevin Barry. (Donna Larsson Photo)
By DAN MARGARITA
WAKEFIELD — With the closing of school and the end of the Wakefield High softball season, Coach Rick “Coach Q.” Quattrocchi took a few moments to reflect on the past season.
With a number of young players as starters, manning key positions, some may have doubted that the team would have a strong season. “Coach Q.” was not among the doubters, however.
“A couple of coaches and even a few parents said, ‘With the number of underclassmen you have you must be rebuilding.’ To be quite honest with you, that thought never crossed my mind. I said, ‘No, I’m not rebuilding at all. They played well from the first pitch to the last pitch and those six freshmen didn’t play like freshmen.’”
Wakefield posted a 14-7 overall record and finished with an 11-5 record in the Middlesex League Freedom division. The Warriors lost by an 8-7 score to Swampscott in a Div. 2 North first round game. The Big Blue made it to the Div. 2 North final and lost to eventual state finalist Reading.
The coach credits his veteran players for helping bring the younger players along.
“My four seniors did an outstanding job. With six freshmen and a sophomore it could’ve been, ‘I’m a senior (and) you’re a freshman, get out of my way.’ It wasn’t like that at all.”
Wakefield lost some key hitters to last year’s graduation, the first, fourth and fifth hitters in the lineup but according to “Coach Q.,” “We didn’t skip a beat. It’s like we just reloaded again.”
Next year’s team will be minus the number two, three and five hitters but the coach expects for the returning players to pick up the slack. Those hitters were seniors Amanda Boulter, Emma Kraus and Nicole Gasdia.
“Most coaches would say, ‘Geez, that’s a lot to lose’ but I don’t think we’re going to lose much at all. It’s like I told them at the banquet, ‘I have 11 openings next year because they all have to try out.’”
Boulter also was Wakefield’s number one pitcher the past several seasons and she will be missed. There a couple of more hurlers for the Warriors that will be relied on to carry the pitching load next spring.
Next year’s captains will be catcher Nicole Catino, who’ll be a sophomore, and shortstop/pitcher Alexi Truesdale, who’ll be a junior.
“They’re voted on by their peers. The coaches have nothing to do with it.”
The team finished second to Burlington, one game out in the Freedom division and were the youngest team in the M.L. and tied for the youngest in the state.
The coach also wanted to praise third baseman and two-time Freedom division MVP Kraus, who was named All Scholastic by both the Boston Herald and the Boston Globe. This is the first time a Warrior player has been named an All Scholastic in a very long time.
Wakefield will say good bye to graduated seniors Boulter, Kraus, Gasdia and Hayley Kaddaras.
The rest of the roster consisted of underclassmen who will be among the players vying for playing time in 2016. Those players include Meghan Burnett, Catino, Hannah Dziadyk, Olivia Dziadyk, Meagan Gibbons, Vanessa Kaddaras and Truesdale.
Published in the June 24, 2015 edition
