VOORHEESVILLE — The Blackbirds are looking to rise this season.

The Voorheesville softball team wants to overcome last year’s tough losses and put some more checkmarks in the win column this season.

The Lady Blackbirds finished with a 9-11 overall record last season and a lot of those losses were close.
"We want to rebound from a tough season," said Voorheesville Coach Matt Fiato. "We didn’t make sectionals. I thought we should have, but we lost a lot of one-run games, and that hurt us."

The Blackbirds lost four games by one run and lost six or seven by two or three runs, Fiato said.

To combat those close losses, Voorheesville will use the experience of eight returning players, seven of them seniors. The Birds will have a 14-player roster this spring.
"It’s nice to have seven seniors and eight returning players," Fiato said. "We still need to fill a couple of infield positions, but the outfield is pretty much secured."

The Blackbirds also have three juniors, two sophomores, and two ninth-graders on the roster.

Experience and new talent

Voorheesville will have the experience of Jenna Massaroni and Jillian Blair returning. Both are four-year varsity players. Sarah LaFave also returns and will be pitching for her second straight year. She was a back-up behind Cyrilla Suker her sophomore year.

Also returning are seniors Brittney Holcomb, Brittney Logan, Jackie Moreau, and Rebekah Coons. Junior Brittany Vogel is also returning.
"We’ll benefit from their experience," Fiato said. "We lost a lot of one-run and two-run games. We expect to turn those around into wins."

New to the team this spring are juniors Alli Bryant and Christine Abelseth, sophomores Alissa Hatch and Kate Chiseri, and freshmen Britney Creed and Kelsey DeZalia.
"We definitely have a lot of talent," Fiato said. "Our youth, ninth- and 10th-graders are good. And we have the experience with our returning players. I’m looking forward to the season."

Snowed in

The Lady Blackbirds have been playing gym ball and have not been able to get outside because of the snow. Last Friday’s snow storm didn’t help matters.
"We have a scrimmage scheduled for the 28th," Fiato said. "That’s probably not going to happen."

Besides wrecking the schedule, it makes it difficult for Fiato to see a lot of what his players can do and where the pieces fit; that’s another reason for the importance of experience.
"We don’t really have other problems besides the weather," Fiato said. "It was encouraging, but it was disappointing to get two feet of snow this weekend. But everybody is in the same boat. But our girls just want to play softball. They want to play some games."

Fiato knows that LaFave will be the starting pitcher for most of the games this season. But he also has another good pitcher in Alissa Hatch.
"She’ll pitch some innings this year," Fiato said. "And we have three catchers. That’s unheard of."

The starting catcher will be Blair. She has been behind the plate for the past four years. Massaroni might move from second base to third base this season, Fiato said. He hasn’t made a final decision. He also said first base and second base are up in the air.

Vogel returns to play shortstop this season and Holcomb will return in centerfield. The corner outfield spots weren’t filled yet.
"We’re looking for some of the seniors to step into those spots," Fiato said.

Fiato can’t wait to see his team on the field this spring.
"We do a lot of fielding drills, hitting drills and conditioning," the coach said. "We get into the batting cage every other day. But you are limited to what you can do. We are doing weight training. We get a group in there, and it gives us more room in the gym with a whole other group."

Fiato said that the softball program is good, even though there are fewer kids on the junior varsity team.
"They are a little low," he said. "It’s probably because I have 14 on the varsity. I have seven seniors and eight returning players; that’s why I kept them up. If I had three seniors, then I wouldn’t have to do that."

Though it doesn’t look like Voorheesville will be able to get in its first game against Guilderland on April 2, or its first Colonial Council league game on April 4, the Blackbirds will be ready when the season does start.
"We went over some of the goals for this year," Fiato said. "They are simple, but achievable. One of the common ones was to win the closer games. Another was to beat the better teams in the league. And they definitely want to make sectionals this year."