The 2019 New Haven Chargers’ softball campaign has been both hot and cold. After winning three out of five at Myrtle Beach’s Snowbird Freeze Out, including a 14-1 victory over Slippery Rock, the team put up a 1-4 record to stand at 4-6. The Chargers have now won six consecutive games to put them at 10-6 and in first place in the NE-10 Southwest Division.    

The highlight of the season thus far has been the pitching of Ava Fitzmaurice and Mia Iodice. Both first-year players have started eight and six games respectively, and Fitzmaurice has been in 15 out of the 16. Fitzmaurice is tied for first in wins in NE-10 play and holds seven complete games pitched, both best in the conference. Iodice averages above four strikeouts per full game, despite only pitching 31.1 innings.

 Offensively for the blue and gold, sophomore Melissa Bike leads the team and is top 20 in the NE-10 in batting average (.340), followed closely by  freshman Mya Case (.340), and seniors Taylor Luzzi (.333) Maddy Derosia (.238) and Sierra Whitlock (.263).

 In terms of offensive efficiency, the Chargers are tops in the conference. Scoring 79 runs off of 178 total bases, New Haven scores on 45.95 percent of each base they take, closely followed by Assumption’s 45.90 percent. They also lead the NE-10 in runs per game at 5.1. Despite this, the Chargers have left 6.2 runners on base per game through 10 games, something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.

 The team currently has six seniors, which is the most on a Jen Starek-coached team in the last 10 seasons. The most prior to this season was four which they had in eight of the last 10 years. The senior leadership has translated to the growth of young players like Fitzmaurice, Iodice, Bike, and Case.

 The Chargers have just started in-conference play and are aware of the challenges upcoming with the competition in the NE-10.

“We have been playing and competing with good softball teams,” said Derosia. “The challenge now becomes beating those good teams.”

Fellow senior Whitlock agrees, there are some challenges ahead but the team has to stick together,

“We have to learn from our first 10 games. Some games we have the offense, others the defense. We just have to put the pieces together” said Whitlock.