St. Mary’s looking to improve on near perfection

Let’s just say the St. Mary’s High softball team won’t be sneaking up on anyone this season.It’s tough to fly under the radar when you’re coming off a 22-3 season, a trip to the Division 3 Eastern Mass final and you’ve only lost two players from the team that got your there. That’s the position the Spartans are in this season and from where St. Mary’s fans are sitting, it’s not a bad place to be.”Expectations are high,” coach Colleen Newbury said. “We were so close last year. Everyone’s back. There’s really nothing else to settle for. This is a very determined group. They make each other work hard. We’re just trying to get to the tournament and win it.”Although numbers wise the Spartans barely took a hit through graduation, but the two players who did move on will be tough to replace. Pitcher Katelynn Fanning backboned the St. Mary’s run last year. She’s now playing at Salem State, where she tossed a no-hitter in her college pitching debut earlier this week. Anna Jackson is at Niagra University.Newbury will have to find a new pitcher, but she won’t have to look too far. Junior Sam Kiley was Fanning’s backup last year and she’s back, as are two sophomores from Revere, Brianna Holmes and Vanessa LaFauci. The latter two pitched on a very talented junior varsity team last year. Newbury said she also has a couple of younger pitchers who have looked promising in the first few days of tryouts.Whoever gets the job will have an experienced catcher on the other side of the plate. Junior Erin McAndrews is back as is junior Katie Collins. The rest of the infield also boasts some experience with Jenna Fraher, Kristen Mondello, Kristina Burri and Emily Olson looking to hang on to their jobs at third, short, second and first base, respectively. Ariel LaRosa is also a threat at third and a possible designated hitter, while Angela Dandreo has also seen some time at first and in the DH spot.Among the returning outfielders are Brittany Hanscom, Maria Nazarro and Chelsey Paone, with senior Marie Bedard, who played as a freshman, also hoping to see some time.Newbury had 68 girls show up for tryouts for the four teams, junior high, freshman, junior varsity and varsity. The Spartans have several non-league games on their schedule, including Swampscott, Saugus, Natick and Dracut.