Lady Mules developing talent

Posted

Last season was a special one for the senior-loaded Malverne softball team, which won the Nassau Conference AB-IV championship. This spring, the expectations are much different for the Lady Mules, as they look to develop new young talent, so there can be more special years like 2015 ahead of them. 

“This season has not been the greatest one for us so far, but we’re in the middle of a rebuilding year,” coach Jen Gibbons said. “We had most out our team graduate last year, so this year we’re very young.”

Nailing down victories has been a struggle for the Lady Mules, but according to Gibbons, the experience the team’s newest players are getting is invaluable.

“I think we’re on our way to being a good team,” she said. “We have a lot of kids that are in ninth and tenth grade, that haven’t had too much exposure to the varsity level. We definitely have some promising kids, that seem like they are getting a little better every day.”

Even during a season of retooling, Malverne’s offense has proven to be quite dangerous at times, scoring over 16 runs on three different occasions. Olivia Quaranto, Alex Delligatti and Christina Sangenitti have been major bright spots at the plate for the Lady Mules.

“We have a few strong returning players in the middle of our lineup, that have been pretty good for us,” Gibbons said. “They have definitely added some power to our lineup.”

In the circle, it has been Sangenitti getting the call on most days. And according to her coach, there has been plenty of improvement in her pitching this season.

 “Her speed is much better than it’s been in the past, and her accuracy has been good,” Gibbons said. “She’s definitely showcased the ability to strike batters out.”

There is plenty of optimism about this youthful club moving forward, but for now the coaching staff is focused on making sure the team is fundamentally sound. 

“Our baserunning has gotten better, and we have some good speed on the bases,” Gibbons said. “We’ve been trying to focus on our fielding, and trying to commit a couple of less errors. But our players are newer and still nervous, so it takes time.”

One of the more encouraging things Gibbons has seen from her club has been its ability to bounce back. Early on in the season the Lady Mules suffered a mercy loss to North Shore. But when the two teams met again a few weeks later, Malverne was able to put up a much more competitive effort against them.

“I like how we’ve been able to keep games close in different situations,” Gibbons said. “Every one of our games seems to be a little bit better than the last one.”

Enduring through a rebuilding year is never easy, but it may not be too long before the Lady Mules have a new core of experienced players to lead them to more good things.