Lincoln-Sudbury softball eyes undefeated season two years after missing playoffs
SUDBURY - The team wanted a culture change. Bring in lightning bolts and goldfish.
Severe weather and between-inning snacks? Hardly.
Lincoln-Sudbury softball has lost just two games since failing to reach the playoffs two seasons ago, missing out by one win and one place in the rankings. A 20-win season last spring ended shockingly early, but the Warriors haven’t lost since.
Thank Woburn for that.
“We just stayed hungry after that loss,” said L-S senior captain Abby Venis of the 3-2 Sweet 16 playoff setback to the Tanners last June 7.
“Everyone knows we could have won,” said junior captain Kelsey Blanchette. “And the fact that we didn’t, we were just so mad and upset. That turned into motivation.”
L-S didn't have to wait long for redemption, opening the preseason with a scrimmage on March 22 against, fittingly, Woburn. The score wasn’t close this time.
“I’m really glad we had Woburn as a scrimmage because we beat them and it shows that we can do anything,” said senior captain Grace Messina. “It really set the tone for the season.”
The Warriors hit this Memorial Day weekend as one of two unbeaten teams in the state, along with three-time defending Division 1 state champ Taunton. Friday evening’s 12-2 win over Newton North put L-S at 19-0, one victory away from the program’s first perfect regular season.
The team has outscored opponents 226-36 with six shutouts and is No. 4 in the Division 1 power rankings, one slot behind Taunton. The spring of 2022 that ended with a 9-11 record and no postseason isn’t visible anymore in the rearview mirror.
When that season concluded, head coach Devan Morrison held individual meetings with each player, a usual custom.
“The message was the same from everybody: we weren’t satisfied,” the sixth-year coach said before Friday’s game. “Something has to change.”
The team introduced lightning bolt stickers – as in “be the spark” - for helmets to reward strong play. They picked up the intensity in practice and every player has a role, from keeping score, charting batters and signaling to runners coming into home plate.
The Warriors not only replaced the bolt sticker after last season, they upgraded their mindset.
“We’ve brought on this goldfish mentality,” said Venis.
The infielder-outfielder is also a volleyball captain, a team that used the motto “Next Play Mentality,” writing “NP” on their wrists.
“If you make a mistake, just get right back to it,” Venis explained to a perplexed reporter when asked about the fishy aphorism.
“No one’s going to get mad,” added Blanchette, a UMass commit. “Just snap right back; make the next play.”
L-S looks to defeat Silver Lake for second time
In a season full of highlights, the Warriors have two three-game segments full of them.
The first began on April 16 with a comeback, when L-S trailed by three runs in the sixth inning, but emerged with an 8-7 win over Hopkinton. A day later, L-S defeated Silver Lake (No. 2 in Div. 2) in Kingston, 2-1, before senior captain Lia Mazzocchi registered her 200th career strikeout against Waltham on April 22.
The next trio includes wins over Cambridge Rindge & Latin, Newton South and Tyngsborough, but the 44 runs the Warriors scored is not the most impressive feat. L-S displayed its depth in the circle by using three different pitchers: Sophie Jorjorian, Blanchette and Lia Mazzocchi, who each struck out 10 batters. Jorjorian did not allow a hit during her five-inning stint.
L-S has also received significant contributions from Nicole and Ashleigh Lent, Sarah Danielson, Eliana Krasnow and Natalie Gaeta.
With another win Saturday, Lincoln-Sudbury will make program history. But the opponent is Silver Lake, which is 18-2. The players said reaching 20-0 would be nice. There are bigger goals, however.
“It would be crazy to have a perfect season,” Mazzocchi said, “but it’s clean slate after that.”
“It would be awesome but when we go into playoffs, it really doesn’t matter,” Blanchette added. “It would be nice if that were able to happen, but as soon as playoffs start, we have to change our mentality and say, ‘now we have a 0-0 record and so does everybody else.’”
No matter the end result, the culture has changed. The Warriors will likely want to put away that goldfish mentality, however, and remember the conclusion of this season.
“Lincoln-Sudbury softball is on the map now,” Morrison said. “We just have to believe we belong.”
Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at tdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: L-S softball eyes undefeated season two years after missing playoffs
