Gators’ catcher Becca Williams looks to make a play at home plate. (File photo by Chris Putz)
HUNTINGTON – With snow and mud blanketing playing fields, the Gateway Regional High School softball team has been hard-pressed to find adequate space to get ready for the upcoming season.
That is just one of several challenges for a team which also lost five-year starting pitcher Brooke Fairman to graduation last spring.
The Gateway Gators will also get a new look at the top as first-year head coach Matt Bonenfant, a familiar face among some of the school’s other sports programs, takes over coaching duties.
Joe Hough will fill the role of assistant coach.
“I want to put the girls in the best position, and build for the future, developing the whole program,” coach Bonenfant said. “The girls want to make a tournament run. We are going to be working hard to make that happen … My goal is to have better softball players on the last day of the season versus what we have the first day.”
Although Fairman will no longer dominate the mound, senior catcher Becca Williams is expected to help ease the transition for whoever is called upon to pitch. Bonenfant told The Westfield News late last week that four Gators were vying for the starting gig.
Four other returning players – Casey McKittrick (IF), Arielle Baillargeon (IF/P), Kendall Rooney (OF), and Jessie Walton (OF/P) – are expected to fill vital roles in 2014.
Check back for daily updates on the details involving the team’s season opener.
