East Hampton pitcher Allison Jacobsen has been solid in her first season on the mound. Jacobsen and shortstop Olivia DeMartino (background) are part of a large, talented group of sophomores that are playing major roles for the Bellringers this spring.
To describe East Hampton High School’s softball team as young would be an understatement. The Bellringers do not have a senior that has played this season and eight of the nine starters are either freshmen or sophomores. Despite an inexperienced group on the field, East Hampton head coach Erin Jump said her team has battled like a seasoned squad in every game this spring. “I am proud of them for sticking together,” added Jump. “We have had plenty of times where we’ve only had nine players and sometimes I’m just hoping we have nine to play a game.” Even with a learning curve and uncertainty at times, the Bellringers began the season smoldering hot by winning four of five games. But a current seven-game slide has them searching for answers. On May 3, the Bellringers dropped their fifth in a row, losing to Cromwell 9-1 at East Hampton High School. The visiting Panthers came out of the gate swinging for the fences, scored four runs in the first inning and added five more in the sixth inning to cement the win. “Even though we let things get away from us sometimes, [the players] stick with it and work well together,” Jump said of the growing pains. “They try and work through everything they can. We have to stay positive, because sometimes they get down and it’s hard to get out of it.” Shortstop Olivia DeMartino provided the only offense for the Bellringers, cranking an inside-the-park home run in the first inning when she blasted a shot to deep center field off of Cromwell’s all-state pitcher Lily Kenney. The May results haven’t been ideal, but they only have to look back to April to find positives. They started the season with a pair of impressive conference wins, defeating Valley Regional and Cromwell — the defending Class S state champs. In the April win at Cromwell, sophomore Emily Jovel singled to drive in DeMartino for the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and sophomore pitcher Allison Jacobsen retired the side in extras to seal the a 2-1 win in eight innings. Jacobsen, who played in the field last spring, has shifted over to the hill and assumed the team’s ace role this year. Jump said that Jacobsen worked extremely hard in the offseason to prepare for her new role, saying her transformation has helped solidify the position. “I am proud of her. She has stepped up and done great things on the mound this year,” Jump added. “The strides she has made just in her pitching abilities and her ability to move the ball around has kept up in a lot of games.” Captaining the team are the team’s oldest players in juniors Madison Reola and Makayla Wolf. Jump said her junior duo has helped keep the group’s morale up during the struggles. DeMartino and Jovel, both sophomores, have done the most damage from the plate, each driving in 17 runs through the first ten games. Following an all-conference season as a freshman, DeMartino has taken her game to another level this spring, also leading the team in hits and runs. Jump praised DeMartino for her adaptability, saying she is gifted enough to play anywhere on the field and added that she is one of the most “talented” and “coachable” players that she has had in her six years leading the program. The team is finishing up a three-game road trip and that started with an 11-5 loss to Morgan on Monday. They will return to East Hampton High School tonight (May 12) for a rematch with Morgan in an important Shoreline Conference clash. First pitch is 4 p.m. The home conference game is part of five games in seven nights with four of those games at EHHS. The handful of games will determine a spot in the state tournament. Jump said she likes how the team has played in the field, but stated that they need to be more consistency offensively, adding, “We need to be more confident at the plate. That is also part of youth, but they’re getting there and they are coming along.” Win or lose, Jump said the experience the group has gained this year will pay major dividend over the next two seasons. “They are a very tight-knit group. They mesh together so well and everyone gets along,” stated Jump. “They lift each other up and that’s one of the best things you can have in a team.”
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AuthorSports Editor for the Rare Reminder, Glastonbury Citizen, and Rivereast News Bulletin Archives
April 2024
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