Middlesex Brings Back Softball After 10 Years

Middlesex softball earns its first win after a 10 year hiatus.

Behind Chapel sits the home of Middlesex’s newest team: softball. After 10 years, Middlesex has brought back the softball team which hasn’t played a game since 2014. Under the leadership of captains Devon Coyle and Kat Garabedian, the team currently holds a winning record of 2-1. The team came together in March and has worked for two months to form a winning team chemistry. Of the 10 players on the roster, only 3 have played competitive softball, so the past few months of practice have been spent working hard learning the rules and mastering the skills. In the first game of the season the team faced a challenge from a talented Nobles team, and while the result wasn’t what the team wanted, they learned a lot and went back to work. Just three days later the team faced Governor’s Academy. While the team got down 6-2 early, they scrapped their way back to tie the game 6-6 at the end of the sixth inning. In the final inning the team scored seven straight runs and held Gov’s scoreless to win the game 13-6. Pitcher Devon Coyle finished the game strong pitching no-hitters the final three innings to close out the game. Sophomore third baseman Gina Zhao was MVP for stealing home three times. The team showed drastic improvement, recording multiple putouts, pop flies, and tagging stealing players out. The following week the team played their home opener on Chapel field against St. Marks. From the first pitch Middlesex dominated. Going up 9-1, the game ended after just 4 innings. Freshman Caroline Wolford hit a massive triple and catcher Kat Garabedian and pitcher Devon Coyle collaborated to get a runner out at home. The team has so much energy when playing and it truly is a joy to watch the excitement the team has during games. The team radiates positive energy and is obviously having so much fun no matter how the game is going. The team is led by Coach Olivia Crowley, who graduated from Merrimack College in 2022 after playing first at Assumption University before transferring to Merrimack. In high school Coach Crowley was Merrimack Valley Conference All-Conference and MVP for 2018. She is assisted by Lisa Molivar and John Morrissey. When speaking to captain Devon Coyle, her favorite memory of the season has been “winning the game at Gov’s, but not the game itself and our epic comeback, but more so the energy and how excited we all were to win that game and how everyone contributed to the win and the positivity.” Co-captain Kat Garabedian agreed that her favorite memory so far has been “ winning our first game at Governors and seeing everyone do well and being super energetic.” When asked about the rest of the season Kat said “ I’m looking forward to continuing to make more memories with the team at practices and games. ” Only halfway through the season, the team hopes to finish with a winning record and have just as much fun doing it. With a new field, new coach, and new roster the future looks bright for Middlesex softball.  

Grace Bishop