By Adam Aucoin
THE RUTLAND HERALD
A new, but familiar face will be exchanging the lineup cards this spring for the Green Mountain softball team.
Former softball coach Matt Wilson has decided to step away to be able to see his daughter Madison Wilson play for Castleton University, where she is a junior, and in his place, Green Mountain Athletic Director Todd Parah is taking over the program.
The Chieftains are looking to build off a successful 2022 season, where they made it to the Division III state semifinals.
Their baseball counterparts are always a contending team in D-III and that figures to the case once again.
SOFTBALL
The transition has been a seamless one for Parah taking over the GM softball program.
“We have a good bunch of girls. I think we’ll be very competitive,” Parah said.
The Chieftains have a lot of talent returning from last year’s team that was ousted by eventual state runner-up Vergennes in the semifinals.
Green Mountain graduated just two players, but one of them, first baseman Kim Cummings, was a major key to the team’s makeup over the last couple of seasons.
“Kim is a big loss. We have some girls working in who will look to fill that role at first,” Parah said.
A team always wants to be strong in its battery. If a pitcher and catcher are in sync, softball teams can get on a roll and success follows from there.
The Chieftains know they have a great battery in pitcher Brie Howe-Lynch and catcher Abby Williams.
Howe-Lynch is entering her third season as the go-to girl in the circle and the confidence is growing.
“People will see whole different Brie this year,” Parah said. “She’s bigger and stronger.”
Howe-Lynch and Williams play travel ball together.
Senior Riley Paul will be a stalwart for Green Mountain, playing shortstop. Kayla English figures to slot into third base and Chloe Gregory will most likely play second base.
A lot of outfield spots are still up for grabs, but Parah sees girls like Brielle Heybyrne and Becca Ortego finding roles out there. Other girls expected to find roles are Tegan Sheehan and Alana Schneider, among some other new faces.
Green Mountain opens the season at home on April 14 against Division IV contender Poultney.
BASEBALL
The Green Mountain baseball team has established a winning culture over the last handful of seasons.
The Chieftains are coming off a season where they won 13 games and have won 12 or more games in every season except one since 2017.
This year’s group will be less experienced following the graduation of six seniors who were all major contributors, but the team still has high expectations.
“The kids understand the culture that we’ve grown here at Green Mountain,” said GM coach Matt McCarthy.
McCarthy noted that this year’s squad has just three players with lots of varsity experience, but has a younger group that has played plenty of baseball.
The Chieftains are sophomore-heavy this year with seven of the 16 players on the roster in that class.
Seniors Liam O’Brien and Jack Hinkley are both guys with plenty of experience to fall back on at the varsity level.
Sophomore Tanner Swisher was an instant contributor last season as a freshman and the three-sport athlete figures to be just as important this season.
McCarthy, whose son Dylan is committed to pitch at Division I George Mason University after finishing up at Vermont Academy, will have plenty of options for who take on the ball on the mound this season.
Hinkley will be one of the main cogs in the rotation. Swisher will also see time pitching when he’s not behind the dish as the team’s starting catcher. Junior Tate Pellerin and sophomore Aiden Garvey will also be on the mound.
A trio of eighth graders are on the varsity roster and all three can pitch in Kaiden McCarthy, Evan Farrar and Mason Parker.
GM will have plenty of options behind the plate on days where Swisher is pitching.
Sophomores Andrei Solzhenitsyn and Derek Hodgdon, freshman Jayden Davis and eighth grader Farrar can also catch.
Sophomore Caleb Merrow, coming off a breakout basketball campaign, will slot in at first base, a spot where Pellerin, Farrar and Kaiden McCarthy can also play.
O’Brien and Hinkley are both middle infielders, but coach McCarthy said Hinkley will see a lot of time at third base. Solzhenitsyn also can play in middle infield. Cole Blodgett plays at the hot corner and can also play first if need be.
In the outfield, senior Zerrick Ausikaitis, juniors Pellerin and Joey Vullo, sophomores Garvey, Hodgdon and Caleb Bigelow, freshman Davis and eighth graders Parker and Kaiden McCarthy are options.
Green Mountain opens the season on April 14 hosting Poultney. The Chieftains are hoping their field is ready by then, given the snow that still sits atop the field.
In the opening weeks of practice, GM has been contained to the gymnasium and parking lot.
In the gym, the Chieftains have worked on hitting, infield work, bunt rotations and have had bullpens for pitchers. In the parking lot, they’ve done a lot of outfield work.
The warmer weather this week could do a lot to change the white coating on their field in Chester.
No matter the circumstances, the Chieftains will be ready to go.
“We’re excited to get the season going,” coach McCarthy said.
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