Renegades Confident For Upcoming Season

Following a second-round playoff exit last year in a close game against Curtis High School, the Renegades, Stuyvesant’s girls’ softball team, are looking to improve from last season. After four seniors graduated last year, leaving only one senior this year, the younger members of the team will need to step up to fill holes behind the plate and in the outfield. Though the lack of veteran players is a challenge, the Renegades are working hard to prepare for the upcoming season.

In order to become better players, the Renegades will need strong leadership in the form of juniors and co-captains Charlotte Ruhl and Frankie Michielli. Players have faith in the two to help the team improve. “Even though we lost so many great players with Georgia [Kamm (‘16)] and others, Charlotte and Frankie were so great last year, and I'm confident that this year, they will be great leaders for the team,” sophomore Meredith Silfen said.

Freshmen played a big part in the success of last year’s team, with five freshmen getting more than 30 at-bats over the course of the season. During the regular season, these freshmen drove in 90 runs in 18 games and supplied the team with a reliable offense. “We have a lot of really good freshmen from last year who contributed a lot to the team,” Ruhl said.

While the upcoming freshmen and sophomores have immense potential and talent, Ruhl believes that team unity could improve. “I think we still need to work on the team building aspect because I feel like we play individually, and the errors add up quickly, so we need to work on team chemistry,” Ruhl said. Avoiding errors is an important part of securing wins, as the fielders will have to find their rhythm in order to support the team’s solid pitching.

The pitching this year is an aspect of the Renegades’ game on which will they will undoubtedly rely. This is in large part due to Michielli, who finished last year with a record of 10-5, striking out 89 batters over 100 innings and proving to be a dominant force on the mound.

Although the Renegades started the season 0-3 last year, the team quickly improved and ended with a record of 11-5. Showing much development as a team throughout the season last year, the expectations are high for the Renegades as they start off the season this year. “This year, we have a solid team and talented rookies,” Ruhl said. “We are expecting to do really well and finish at the top of the division.”