At the time of this writing, the Shepherd Hill softball team was sitting at 16-3 after ending Tantasqua’s three-game winning streak with a 6-4 victory. Last spring the Rams finished with a similar record, but with a lower power ranking, finding themselves with a 31 seed in the Division 2 Softball Tournament. Shepherd Hill dispatched their first-round foe, Longmeadow 7-0, but then fell to Hopkinton, the number two seed, in the second round, something the Rams have been accustomed to over the last few years.

“This team always seems to be able to win our first-round game but then loses in the second round,” said Rams Head Coach John Snyder. “We just haven’t been able to get past it. This year we’ve moved up from Mid Wach B to A, so our power rankings should be better.”

Currently the Rams are ranked number three in Division 2, but after losing two of their last three contests, prior to the Tantasqua win, it looked like Shepherd Hill could fall out of that three spot and possibly as low as five when the new rankings are released. If they do happen to drop, the Tantasqua win and a good showing in their season finale against Doherty will surely help them to move back up in the rankings.

Sitting at 16-3 at this time is somewhat of a surprise for Synder. The Shepherd Hill coach really did not expect to be here despite having a veteran team take to the field. The Rams had five seniors, 10 juniors and only one freshman don the uniform this spring.

“Moving up I figured that it would be a little tougher, but we’ve been able to win a couple of extra inning games,” the coach said. “At one point we won 12 straight, which was a surprise but also gave the girls confidence. Having lost two out of three I was hoping that we were not heading in the wrong directions as the State Tournament was getting closer.”

Shepherd Hill opened the season with a 9-8 loss to Auburn, while also falling to Wachusett and Hopedale near the end of the season. But the team has been able to stay close to their opponents so it should help them when the final power rankings are revealed before the tournament.

Leading the Rams this season has been junior ace Madi Carpenter. The Shepherd Hill hurler has been able to rack up 125 strikeouts prior to the Tantasqua game. According to Synder, the junior has decent speed in the circle and has been effective with her pitches. Although Carpenter had a tough stretch for about a week when she was sick, she can still possibly top the 200-strikeout mark. She needs to put together good games in the team’s final two regular season games as well as in the tournament. Prior to the Tantasqua game, Carpenter had a career 255 strikeouts. 

While Carpenter was delivering in the circle, Shepherd Hill had not one but two 100-hit seniors at the plate: shortstop Emily Hultgren and first-baseman Annie Hast. Hultgren bats third in the lineup and with decent power has delivered 132 hits during her Shepherd Hill career while Hast reached 110 hits. Both athletes have been with the team since the eighth grade and saw some playing time their first year with the team. 

“Emily and Annie are also both captains and the team follows their lead,” Synder said. “Thus far they are holding up their end of the bargain.”

Another solid hitter at the plate for the Rams is Olivia Jankowski. The junior can provide the power with her bat. Last spring she was named to the Mid Wach All-Star team and Synder believes she should make the team once again this year. Playing third-base and left field, the junior has four home runs, two triples and a bunch of doubles while batting over .500 through 18 games. 

Usually, Synder likes to have a few freshmen on his roster to begin getting them ready for the future. This season he had so many talented upperclassmen returning that he was only able to allow one freshman to grace his roster. Needing a back-up catcher, it was Ava Cincotta who made the team. The first-year varsity player not only plays catcher but can suit up at any position on the field. She also possesses speed and is a good base runner, which allows the Rams coach to insert her as a courtesy runner. 

With their final game still left to be played, Shepherd Hill will be awaiting their final rankings into the Division 2 State Tournament.

“We may not be a legitimate top-seeded team, but once you get into the tournament anyone can win at any time, Snyder said. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed. The top teams in our division are really strong, but our girls are all in, looking to get better while learning.”

Synder firmly believes that his team has been learning from playing those top-notch teams throughout the regular season. If the Rams go out and play defense while delivering the pitching, Shepherd Hill should be fine.

“Playing those tougher teams, we are going to need to generate runs if we want to win and cannot make errors against them,” he said. “We strive to work on these things to get better – we know that we can succeed if we play to our capability.”