PREVIEW: SSHS Softball Looks to Captains For Spark

Due to new conference realignments, the South Side High School softball team now plays in Class A Conference IV, a step down from the ultra-competitive conference it played in last year. With the team returning nearly its entire outfield and infield, Head Coach Shannon McEntee said she believes this team can vie for a conference title.

"We should be in the running this year," McEntee said. "Our toughest competition is Garden City and we split with them last year. We played them pretty well."

Though McEntee admitted that it's hard to attract the best student talent for the softball squad when several of the school's best athletes are on spring track and lacrosse teams, a balanced mix of newbies and veterans should help push the team to the next level. "This year we have a strong pitcher," McEntee said of freshman Sam Maselli. "We have a solid starting squad. Our infield and outfield are the same."

Captains Lauren Lopresti, Antonia Modica, Lauren Maitti and Lauren Janson will look to lift an inexperienced bench, McEntee said. "We want them to inspire the other girls to play," she said. "In the lowest league, you don't want the girls to expect to win, but want to win."

To do that, McEntee said the team has been practicing the basics and she plans to tweak the batting order to fuel more offense. "We need to get people on base and score runs," she said. "I'm going to move girls around in the lineup. We need a strong leadoff and cleanup hitter. I don't want to clump our weak spots together."

The Lady Cyclones open the season on Friday at Manhasset at 4:30 p.m.