When Sydney Schoenfeld steps on the mound, she stands between the past and the future of Redwood softball.
Behind her are six consecutive MCAL titles. Ahead is an opportunity for the young team to recreate a dynasty, and right now is a team characterized by close games that has eked its way into the postseason.
The team entered the playoffs on Tuesday with an MCAL record of 7-9, a split that players and coach Gary Casassa said could have been better if not for mental errors in close games.
“We have the potential to beat any team in the league, but there are days where we’ll just make stupid careless errors, and it’s hard to regain from that,” said Sophia Sapuppo, junior.
The team beat Tam in a 6-1 victory Tuesday night to advance to Friday’s MCAL semifinals against San Marin, where they lost 11-1.
Of the team’s nine MCAL losses, three have been by a margin of two runs or less. According to Schoenfeld, Redwood led several other games through multiple innings, only to allow multi-run comebacks for more close losses.
“Every game that we have played has been semi-close,” Schoenfeld said. “There have been innings that we have been ahead, and then in one way or another we’ve just lost it and that cost the game.”
Sapuppo said that because the team’s attitude is more competitive than last year, losses have been taken more seriously than they were in 2012.
“It used to just be a joke last year,” Sapuppo said. “Like, ‘Oh yeah, we lost really bad.’ But if we lose now, there is a consequence for it.”
Sapuppo also said that, while senior leadership from Nicole Coppinger, Chelsea Rose, and the team’s other upperclassmen has been paramount, having a base of eight freshmen players has helped to build a foundation for the team.
The team’s top two leaders in batting average and on-base percentage are freshmen: catcher Shawn McCullough and shortstop Kayla Rose. McCullough also leads the team in slugging percentage.
“I feel like the freshmen now understand how varsity level is,” Sapuppo said. “This is how high school sports are — they’ve seen all the pitchers, they know how good girls are in high school.”
Freshman Audrey Vas said she seen the rise in intensity from middle school softball.
“They really try to win here,” she said. “It was a little creepy, at first, playing with seniors because they are really strong, but we got used to it.”
Casassa said that the team has met all of his expectations for the season so far.
“Rebuilding is not just one year — it sometimes takes two or three years to rebuild,” he said. “This is where I thought and hoped we would be. Get to the playoffs, and anything can happen.”
