The Huntington softball program has had many ups and downs over the years during periods of feast and famine. The JV team ceased to exist for several seasons due to decline in interest. But participation is back up and the 15 player Blue Devil squad this spring gave their all on the field.
Captained by Jessica Maixner and Yuliana Hernandez Perla, the Huntington JV was coached by high school physical education teacher Alex Nelson.
“What stood out most about this team was its coachability and willingness to learn the game,” Nelson said. “Most of the team consisted of girls playing for the first or second time, but they picked up the game extremely quickly.”
Huntington top players included freshman shortstop Kaylee Smalling; freshman second baseman Anne Tyrrell; sophomore catcher Jessica Maixner; sophomore leftfielder Yuliana Hernandez Perla and sophomore pitcher Renee Tetrault.
“Kaylee led the team in infield fielding percentage and has a bright future in the program,” Nelson said. Anne was second in infield fielding percentage and is a huge asset to the program. Jessica did an amazing job at catcher and was the voice of the team. Yuliana was our flex player and was reliable at any position we needed her to play. Renee did an amazing job at pitcher while battling injuries during the season.”
The Blue Devils enjoyable notable offensive success in four games, scoring 12 runs against Copiague and eight runs against Bellport in home and away games. Huntington also sent eight runners across the plate against John H. Glenn.
“Our best accomplishment was the amount of improvement we showed throughout the season,” Nelson said. “The second half of the season was much different than the first. This was due to our team’s coachability and hard work.”
The Huntington JV is looking forward to sunny days ahead. “We have a strong freshmen group returning next season and our sophomores are ready for the next level,” Nelson said. “With the incoming freshmen coming up from Finley, we will have a strong program.”
