CARIBOU, Maine — Hit hard by graduation, and with another key player from last year transferring, coach Ryan Deprey has some major holes to fill this season with his Vikings’ varsity softball team.
The squad went 11-5 during the regular season and qualified for the playoffs last year, albeit as the No. 13 seed, but was quickly dispatched in the preliminary round by Hermon. It was Caribou’s fifth consecutive post-season appearance, including the 2011 run which saw the team come out of the No. 8 position to reach the Eastern Maine Class B championship game.
Caribou will have to overachieve to have the chance to extend its playoff streak. The team lost seven senior starters, including four-year starters Jordyn Doucette and Kristin Plante, and with Amber Bonewicz transferring to Connecticut, the Vikings are without their top two pitchers, their first-string catcher and many key position players from 2013.
The only players back who started a year ago are senior second baseman Cassidy Godin and junior center fielder Morgan Outing. Godin was the ninth hitter in the lineup and Outing played the field but had a designated hitter in her lineup spot, so both will be counted on to step up their offensive games.
Four freshmen are included in this year’s starting lineup, including lead-off hitter and third baseman Megan Thornton, shortstop Maddie Doucette, pitcher/DH Rachel Soucy and catcher Kerrigan Manter. They will be joined by junior right fielder Katie Pelletier, who was the MVP of the junior varsity team last year, as well as sophomore Jenna Boucher, who was a reserve player on the varsity last year, sophomore first baseman Adrianna Bither and sophomore pitcher/outfielder Danica Walker.
Soucy and Walker are the Vikes’ top pitchers.
“They will both see their fair share of innings and have proven to be capable of throwing hard and consistently for strikes, so that is a definite plus,” Deprey said.
Sophomore Maddie Staples and junior Madison Yakel round out Caribou’s 12-player roster, with Madison Doody and Marissa Sarmiento serving as managers and C.P. Harris back in the fold as Deprey’s assistant coach.
“I think our talent level is not where it needs to be yet, but this group has proven to be a hard-working group that has committed themselves to getting better every practice and game,” Deprey said. “They genuinely seem to like each other and have a ‘don’t quit’ attitude that will be important this season with the ups and downs we are bound to face with such a young and inexperienced team.
“I’m really just hoping our kids can keep up with the speed of the varsity game,” he added. “We cannot take any steps backwards this season. We must always learn from our miscues and not make the same mistakes twice.”
Deprey believes a .500 won-loss record is not beyond reach, which would put Caribou in a good position for a post-season berth, but he said the team’s primary goal is “to get better every chance we have, be it at practice or during a game.”
