Renegades’ High Hopes for the Season

Every year, March 1st marks the first day of girls softball for the Stuyvesant Renegades. However, different compared to most other Public School Athletic League teams, the Renegades did not lose any seniors and can pick up where they left off from last season with an intact roster. “I'm super excited for this season, because the team is already looking really strong,” senior and co-captain Charlotte Ruhl said. It's going to be most of the same girls this year, so we already have a really strong team dynamic.”

While most teams use the first few weeks of the season to evaluate talent and plug holes in the field left by the previous year’s seniors, the Renegades know that they can focus their time on fixing some of last year’s weaknesses. “We definitely have a lot of room for improvement,” Ruhl said. “Two of [our] losses [were] due to too many errors, and the other two [were] because we weren't used to facing much faster pitching.”

Ruhl and senior and co-captain Frankie Michielli will work on fielding and throwing mechanics during practices to cut down on errors in the field. “We often let small mistakes get in our heads, and it spirals from there,” Michielli said. One mistake by one player can lead to multiple mistakes in the same inning. One way to correct this is by going through repetitions of common game situations to prepare them for the inevitable mistakes and teach how to rebound from them.

Last year, the team was hindered by inclement weather during the early parts of the season. Pier 40, the team’s primary location for outdoor practices, was frequently flooded or covered with snow, which prevented the team from getting much-needed experience on turf. This limited field-time hurt their defensive performance throughout the year. The team hopes to consistently have practices at Pier 40 twice a week in order to cut down on costly errors, which proved to be a major factor in their second-round playoff loss to the High School for Construction in 2017.

Despite the relative success the team had at the plate last season (they had nine games with more than 10 runs scored), players also see room for improvement on the offensive side. “We'll need to focus on being aggressive and confident at the plate,” Ruhl said. The team has spent many of their practices using the batting cage at Stuyvesant to correct mechanical issues and get the timing of pitches down. The players also adjust the speed setting of the pitching machine, allowing them to work on catching up to faster pitching.

Despite having only a few underclassmen additions, the team still has members who can break out and play major roles this coming season. Junior outfielder Julianna Fabrizio suffered an injury early in the year and was limited to only 27 at-bats, and sophomore tri-sport athlete Eve Wening looks to replicate her strong .389 batting average to an even greater number of at-bats.

Coach Miller is optimistic about his team’s chances and has high hopes for them this season. “We had a very good season last year, and I’m hoping to win the division this year and be ranked top five in the city,” Miller said.

With an intact roster and another year to develop and improve, Ruhl is optimistic about the upcoming season. “If we put in the work and stay focused, I think we are going to be really successful,” Ruhl said. After being eliminated in the second round of the playoffs each of the last two seasons, this could be the year the team breaks into the semifinals.