Terriers Softball Surges Ahead

Rocky Hill head coach Tyler Catlin gathered his softball squad after practice to ask his players questions related to the strategic aspect of the game. It allowed the players a chance to brainstorm as a group and voice their opinions.

Seeing a high school coach have an open dialog with his players was refreshing and is one of the many reasons why Catlin and his Terriers continue to build on an already rock-solid foundation.

“I’m trying to create a climate that is fun for these girls. I want them to love coming to softball,” said Catlin, who is entering his second year in the dugout, “I think you have to be able to be light on your feet and have some fun without losing concentration. If you put too much pressure on yourself it takes the fun out of this game. If you go 0-4, you’ve got to try and put that behind you and come to the park with some sort of a positive attitude and outlook for the next day.”

Catlin’s optimistic outlook worked magic last spring when the team won 18 of 19 regular season games and came within a single run of winning the Class M championship, losing 1-0 to Seymour in the Class M title game.

It was a nearly flawless initial season for the skipper, who had a tremendous group of seniors helping make the transition easier.

“We had eight senior last year that had expectations for themselves and they all had similar goals in mind. They came together and it was a fantastic ride,” stated Catlin, “Those girls played together since they were nine and every day we had fun together. We had a blast and I want to keep carrying that over. If you build that type of comradery and everybody is in it together than those close games start turning into W’s.”

Following last season’s title march, Rocky Hill graduated nearly their entire starting lineup, including all-conference selections Jess Greenspan, Julie Slavin, and Victoria Spellman. The names printed on the lineup card may have changed, but the positive approach and expectations have remained the same.

“The best part about these kids coming in is that I had several of them sitting on the bench during that ride. The kids that sat the bench during the state tournament saw some of the best softball that they’ll ever see in their lives. Not many people get the opportunity to see that kind of talent,” said the Southern Connecticut State University grad, “Now it’s their time to go on that field and show what they can do.”

The team returns only two seniors this season, but both saw extensive action last spring. Seniors Riley Pickett, who earned all-conference last season, and Erin Kelly have assumed the captain roles, along with junior Sophie Kurdziel.

“The captains right now are pushing the right buttons. They are very talented and everyone is going to be watching them,” Catlin said of his trio of leaders, “They’re doing a nice job demonstrating how things are supposed to be done around here and they’re bringing everyone together.”

Pickett and Kelly are entering this season with a lot of experience under their belts and they are doing their best to bestow what they’ve acquired onto the younger players.

“We’ve been more vocal with all the girls and we’re letting them know what we learned last year. We trying to transfer that to them and pass down the knowledge that we learned from the older players,” said Pickett, who played third base a year ago but will be moving to shortstop this spring, “I’m just trying to remain positive and make sure that I’m helping out as many girls as I possibly can. We have to keep working hard every single day.  It’s not just about varsity, we’re trying to help out the JV kids too because when we leave they’re going to have to carry on the legacy.”

“We’re going in with a positive outlook,” added Kelly, “We lost a lot of players, but we have the same coach and we have the same mindset. We’re just going to do the best that we can. We’re going to win some games and we’re going to lose some games, but we win and lose as a team.”

At practice the team has been in full preparation mode for the lofty challenges that lie ahead, but first some of the players have work to do off the field.

Pickett and Kelly are two of seven Rocky Hill softball players that are joining the school’s annual trip to Louisiana, in an effort to rebuild the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

It will be Pickett’s second time going and Kelly’s first.

“We’re going down with a group of about 50 kids and about nine teachers. We go down for Habitat for Humanity and we rebuild houses and dig trenches for the foundations of the houses for the people in need,” said Kelly.

The unique opportunity involves a large amount of manual labor, but the group still finds time to explore the great city of New Orleans.

“It’s a lot of work, but we get to go sightseeing, we go eat beignets every night, we stop and sing with all the people on the street,” Pickett added with a smile.

When the group returns, the softball players will get right back to carrying out their mission on the field, playing a packed schedule that includes six games in a nine-day span.

The Terriers flourished during a similar experience a season ago when they won their first ten games following the trip to The Big Easy.
It’ll be difficult for the Terriers to repeat that feat this season, but it’s a challenge that their coach is ready for the team to embrace.

“We’re working hard right now. We’re working on finding our identity and certain players are stepping up and seizing some opportunities,” said Catlin, who is also Rocky Hill’s JV girls’ basketball coach, “I’m really looking forward to their development this season on the field.”

Catlin’s toughest task will be replacing the rocket right arm of Greenspan, who was an all-state pitcher last spring and is currently throwing flames for UMass Boston.

“Right now we’re going to go pitcher committee,” said the coach, “Sophie Kurdziel looks like she’s the most seasoned. Rachel Roncaioli has shown a lot of improvements, she’s been going to some lessons and receiving some training. I think it’s night and day how much she’s improved since last season and she will get her opportunity throughout the year at the varsity level. Erin Kelly is also in the mix. She zips it in there pretty well and is working on some additional pitches.”

Catlin praised the trio of pitchers for adapting to multiple positions and doing whatever is in the best interest of the team.

Kelly had played a variety of positions over the past couple of years and she knows her roles will be expanding even more this spring.   

“This year I will be going between center field and pitcher and just wherever I’m needed,” said Kelly, “I played a little bit of outfield last year. I played right and started a few games and then coach put me into some games when we were winning and I got experience. So this year I’m the only returning outfielder, so I feel like I have to take a leading role and I’ve been trying to help the girls to get used to it because it’s a big position out there and we’ve got to cover a lot of ground.”

Kelly is learning positions on the fly and she’s not alone. Catlin stated that the key to this season is the growth of the players that came off the bench a season ago.

So far, he likes what he sees.

“I’m really excited to see Lauren Pattison. I think that she is swinging the bat really well right now,” he said, “For a sophomore she has really soft hands. I think she’s the most ready to take over and has the opportunity to be really good at it.”

“Maddie Santo has also showed tremendous improvement behind the plate,” he added, “She’s been working with our new assistant coach Erin Weber, who is a former all-state state catcher here at Rocky Hill.”

Weber was a senior in 2012 when Rocky Hill softball last won a state championship. She went on to play at Western Connecticut State University for the past four years and now replaces Ashley Black, who was Catlin’s assistant a season ago.

“It really nice to have a young coach right out of the college softball game, just like coach Ash Black was last year. They come in with some really good ideas,” Catlin said, “We will miss coach Black and everything that she brought to our team last season, but Erin’s been a wonderful addition to our coaching staff.”

Now that the pieces are in place, the two coaches turn their attention to grooming the young talent and continuing the standard of excellence set by the softball program.

The young head coach knows that it won’t be easy, but he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else coaching the game that he loves.

“Everybody knows that I coach this team now and I’m very proud of that. Every day I feel luckier and luckier that good people like Mike Dudis, Mario Almeida, and Rich Seidman gave me the opportunity coach this team,” said Catlin, “People ask me how I think the team will do after losing seven starters and I think it will give girls the opportunity to step up and deliver for us. There’s a whole new set of opportunities and we could either buckle to the expectations or rise to the occasion. We can prove the critics right or we could prove them wrong. It’s time to step up and prove the doubters wrong. We’re still Rocky Hill High School softball, we’re still a storied team and there’s a lot of tradition in this town.”  

---