By Maeve Tierney
The rigorous Girls Softball
program at Darien High School produces incredible female athletes. This season
Senior Ali Aparicio is one of the captains.
Her goal for the team this season
is to prove a point: That they can succeed, even after losing many seniors. “We lost a lot of amazing players this year, and there
have been rumors that our program won’t be as good this year. We’re hoping to
show everyone that we’re still one of the best teams in the league!”
Aparicio described that the
rewards and pros of being captain of the team outweigh the cons. “You have to relate to
all the girls on the team and see all the sides to every problem; it’s
difficult to be impartial sometimes, but you have to reserve judgement. The
captains set the tone for the team, so we have to be very careful not to
complain.”
Aparicio plays left field, which
she started playing around fourth or fifth grade. Since then Aparicio has stuck with
softball because of the friendships she made on her teams and the welcoming
atmosphere of the softball program.
Her favorite part of the game is
being in the outfield and catching fly balls. “It’s a part of the game that
never gets old- making an amazing catch and hearing everyone cheer is a great
feeling!” However Aparicio has always thought about trying to play catcher.
Next year Aparicio is off to
Princeton University, where she will not be playing softball. She may play
intramural or club though. Keeping up the sport there would be extremely time
consuming as it is D1.
Aparicio’s advice for young girls
starting out playing softball or any female athletes is to, “Make sure you work
during the offseason! I guarantee that your sport will have some opportunities
for you to get in shape and stay active during times when you would otherwise
be on the couch. Softball, at
least, goes full throttle right from the beginning of the regular season.”
Her own goals for this season
entail staying healthy. Aparicio also plays basketball, and as the season ends directly prior to softball beginning, it can hard. This back to back intensity can take a toll on any athlete,
so Aparicio focuses on not getting run down or injured.
Support the girls softball team on April 10th as it takes on Ridgefield!
Photo Caption: Aparicio makes a catch out in left field.
Credit: Stamford Advocate
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