STEPPING UP: Princeton High softball pitcher Kayla Volante delivers the ball in a game this spring. Senior star Volante was a steadying presence for PHS this spring, starring in the circle and producing in the middle of the batting order. The Little Tigers ended the spring with a 6-16 record. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

For Marissa Soprano, seeing her Princeton High softball team come through with an 8-2 win over Hamilton in a Mercer County Tournament consolation game was heartening.

“We were down at the start and then the girls came back and rallied and scored a bunch of runs,” said PHS first-year head coach Soprano, reflecting on the May 12 contest. “That was a good moment for them.”

Although PHS ended up with a 6-16 final record, the Little Tigers experienced some good moments over the last few weeks of the season.

“The girls played better games throughout the season,” said Soprano.

“We just wanted the girls to be competitive and we thought they did a better job of that down the stretch. We could have had a few more breaks go our way but the girls did a nice job.”

Senior pitcher Kayla Volante did a very good job of holding things together for the Little Tigers.

“I think the key piece there was Kayla; she just played really well, day in, day out,” asserted Soprano.

“When she may not be hitting her spots, she just battled through it and kept us competitive. I was really proud of her for finishing her high school career that way.”

The team’s other seniors, Megan Shanahan, Nancy Gray, Christina Cuomo, Celia Gleeson, and Sydney Dubin, also finished things on a high note.

“Megan’s defense at second base has improved phenomenally, she had some really good grabs that really helped,” added Soprano.

“With her height and athleticism, Nancy was able to save quite a lot of balls at first base, I think it would have been a much different season if we had not had her over there. Christina works really well with Kayla and keeps her focused. Celia really struggled at the plate last year and that wasn’t the case this year. We moved her up to the leadoff spot later in the season and that really seemed to work for her. We moved Sydney over to third and we brought Bianca Guidi into short. Sydney is really good defensively and she had a strong enough arm that she could play back a little bit at third with Bianca at short. I thought that made us a better infield.”

In Soprano’s view, her returning players will be better for having been around the seniors this spring.

“Our junior class is really big, I think it is a class of seven so I am happy that they got to work with the seniors this year,” said Soprano

“Hopefully that will continue and they will have a strong season next year, keeping the younger players on their toes. It will be their responsibility next year.”

Soprano enjoyed keeping her players on their toes in her first season at the helm of the program.

“It is challenging but rewarding to see them make plays and come out on top in some games,” said Soprano.

“There was one really tough stretch where we played Notre Dame twice in one week and they looked like they were folding in on themselves. I hated to see that. I thought they did a better job of being resilient towards the end of the year.”