Classical softball will have a different look

The Classical High softball team is coming off a 15-7 season, but there will be some returning players in new spots and new players in the holes left by the graduation of seven players, including five starters.The Rams reached the quarterfinals of the Division 1 North tournament last year, where they lost a heartbreaker to Concord-Carlisle. Of the returning players, two will return to where they played in 2013.Senior Franki Galeazzi is back at shortstop and junior Ivy Martin will be on the mound. Martin pitched about 90 percent of the games last year and after making a few changes in her delivery at the start of the season, she finished strong, Classical coach Chris Warren said.?We?re hoping she can pick up where she left off,” Warren said.The returning contingent also includes sophomore Gabby Kenniston, who was a pleasant surprise as a freshman. Kenniston played in the outfield last year, but could find herself in the infield this season, possibly behind the plate.?Gabby had a tremendous season,” Warren said. “She led the team in hits. She was in the .400s for a batting average.”Another outfielder, Jillian Strileckis, also came up big at the plate for the Rams. The returning contingent also includes senior outfielders Krista Cuozzo and Kathy Perez; junior outfielder Jen Ierardi; senior infielder Jess Perez; sophomore infielder Shannon Magner and sophomore Ally Dunnigan, who pitches and plays the infield.?She actually had a decent batting average last year for the at-bats she got,” Warren said.The Rams will be without five starters from last year?s team — first baseman Olivia DeJoie, now playing at Trinity College; Bobbie Dee Regan (now playing at Salem State); third baseman Samantha Earp, outfielder Danielle Moran and second baseman Angela Erelli.The Rams will have plenty of preseason scrimmages to iron out the kinks that inevitably arise when so many people are in new positions. Warren has scrimmages planned against Amesbury, Lexington, Winchester, and North Andover, as well as six games during the weekend trip to Cape Cod and a play day at Bishop Fenwick.This year will also be special for the Rams because they?re heading to Florida for four games over April vacation. Two of the games are against teams from Wisconsin, one is against a team from Ohio and the other is against Danvers, which will also be in Florida that week. The Danvers game is the one the teams would have played up here. The Falcons will be the home team.The Rams open the regular season April 8 at home against Marblehead.Warren said he had 40 players show up for tryouts with by far the largest concentration coming at the sophomore level (20 players). He said the numbers are a little low, but the quality is good.?I think if we can start the season the way we finished (last year), we?ll be OK,” Warren said.