PEABODY — The Bishop Fenwick softball team is looking toward a bright season behind its first-year head coach Brian Seabury, and between him and the team, the feeling is mutual.
“This is my first year coaching this team,” said Seabury. “Between our returning upperclassmen and these new girls, they’re all really dedicated this season, and I think we’re all just excited to get started.
“Between me getting to know these girls and them getting to know me, this puts us in a position that we’re going to be learning from each other for the first couple of weeks,” Seabury added.
Seabury is also excited about the dedication that his girls have for the game. He’s excited to see how the team’s chemistry translates onto the diamond. However, the one thing he’s really looking to see is how good his pitching staff is.
Sophomore Gigi Aupont, a transfer from Peabody, is one player that Seabury holds to a higher standard. Even though she’s only a sophomore, she’s displayed terrific pitching ability so far.
“I think we’re really excited about our new transfer from Peabody,” said Seabury. “We’re really fortunate to have two solid pitchers in Aupont and senior Emma Burke, which I think will really help us this season. When you look at any competitive team, they have good pitching, and I think that’s one of our biggest strengths this year.”
Burke joins seniors Hannah O’Brien and Arianna Costello as the team captains, and according to Seabury, they all bring something special to the team. Whether it’s helping to teach the younger kids the mechanics or taking them under their wings as leaders, the coach could not say enough great things about them.
“We’ve let the captains really take the lead, and they’ve been great,” said Seabury. “They help some of the younger kids on the team develop and show them the ropes. They also help them keep a positive mindset, and they’ve been wonderful at all of it.”
Seabury also wants to teach his girls where to set expectations. He wants them all to feel proud of the work and effort they put into the season, regardless of outcome.
“Listen, everyone wants to play well, everyone wants to win the state title,” said Seabury. “We just want to commit to ourselves that we’re playing a good overall game, whether it’s being good on defense or at the plate. We just want to be real competitive, and we want to be a tough opponent for anyone to play against by the time the state tournament comes.”
Fenwick will throw the first pitch of its season Monday (3:30) at Latin Academy.
