For the second straight season, the Tri-County softball team posted a 16-2 regular season record. Last year, the Cougars edged out Auburn in the Division 3 Tournament 8-7 before falling to Nipmuc 3-1. This year, Tri-County took upon number 3 Fairhaven in the first round and fell in a tough 3-0 battle.

Having another successful season was not something that Cougar Coach Stephanie Caffrey thought was on the horizon for the team this spring.

"After graduating our top pitcher and some key players from last year's team, I absolutely had no idea that we could accomplish this again," the Tri-County coach said. "I really had no idea as to what we were getting this year, especially with pitching."

Luckily, freshman Emily Aley entered the picture. The first-year player would be given the ball for the Cougars non-league games where she would go 7-1 with a tough loss to Bellingham. By taking on the non-league games, Aley was able to get her toes wet while learning what to expect on the varsity level. At the plate, the freshman was able to bat .400 in her first varsity season.

While the freshman was pitching in the Cougars' non-league games, it was junior Nelia Schweitzer who would take to the circle for the league contests. Schweitzer was perfect whenever she was handed the ball and finished the regular season with an 8-0 record while facing some tough Division 1 and 2 teams in the Mayflower League.

"Nelia really stepped up for us this year," Caffrey said. "She won us a first-round game in the Vocational Tournament and took on a tough Fairhaven team in the State Tournament. We got to where we were because of her performances."

Prior to the season beginning, catcher MacKenzie Duffy came to Caffrey and told her that she would relearn pitching if it would help the team, Not knowing what was coming down the pipeline in terms of pitching, Duffy giving the coach a back-up plan for the season. Thankfully, Aley came out for the team and Duffy only saw time pitching three innings for the Cougars during their 16-win season.

Although Duffy happened to be playing catcher last year, Alexis Rego suited up behind the plate for the majority of the season this year. Rego became the perfect player and voice, taking on the catching role while being an on-the-field coach for the TC athletes.

"Alexis catching was two-fold; she helped us as coaches, handling things on the field on her own," Caffrey said. "In taking over the catcher duties, she allowed MacKenzie to play centerfield, where she was able to cover a lot of ground. It was so nice to have a group of diversity players."

Madison Benoit and Ava Gemelli filled in two of the infield positions. Benoit took over the shortstop position near the end of last year to get ready to take on the position full-time this year. Solid in the field, she was also successful as the teams leadoff hitter, where she batted .514 with 36 hits and added 23 stolen bases for the cougars.

Gemelli would waiver between first and third base. First base was her primary position, but she would move over to the hot corner when Schweitzer was pitching. Originally, Gemelli was an unknown, as the junior had missed her freshman and sophomore campaigns due to an injury. Caffrey was not sure what the junior would be able to give the team having not played since the eighth grade.

"Having two years off was a concern, but she ended up being huge for us," the Cougar Coach said. "She batted over .600 for most of the season but eventually ended up hitting .529 with 36 hits (4 doubles, 6 triples and 3 homeruns) as both a power and singles hitter."

With six senior graduating from this year's team, things will be different for the Cougars come next spring. They will be bringing back eight returners from this year's squad, including three of the team's top four hitters. Caffrey knows that she is going to have find some outfielders to grace the roster of next year's team. This spring, she did have a few working the positions out, hoping that they'll be ready to take on the roles next year. She also has had some girls who have both JV and varsity experience who should be able to step up into those vacancies.

Although, next year, Caffrey will see her team with a very different look, she firmly believes that they should be able to do exactly what they accomplished this year. She has a team that can flash the leather in the field and brings back a strong pitching tandem in Aley and Schweitzer.