WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN
Mount St. Charles softball player Victoria Young was primed and ready for banner senior season
WOONSOCKET — With a new head coach in place after a 2019 season that saw its fair share of struggles, a new day was dawning for the Mount St. Charles varsity softball program. Enthusiasm was abounding everywhere you turned.
On top of everything, the Mounties were looking forward to breaking out their new snazzy blue uniforms for road games that would complement the new solid white ones for home games.
“We were so excited to get on the field and wear them,” said Victoria Young, a senior who was on her way to becoming a four-year starter for the Mounties.
A little more than three weeks have passed since spring high school sports became a casualty of COVID-19. As a result, Young also had softball — her main sport, the one she’s been playing since was seven — ripped away.
“It stunk when we got the news. We had a lot of people telling us that we were going to be a good team this year. We had a strong freshman class and some good juniors and seniors,” said Young. “It’s so sad it ended the way it did. In the beginning, who thought coronavirus would have this big of an impact?”
Another regret from something Young couldn’t control was missing out on playing a high school softball season with her sister Olivia, a freshman. Last summer, the pair were teammates on the same travel team, the Connecticut Bombers.
Before that, you have to go back to when Victoria was 10 to last time she was on the same team as Olivia, who was expected to be one of Mount’s key pitchers.
“I’m very grateful to have a sister who plays. Sometimes I catch for her, which isn’t my favorite, but I’ll do it,” said the elder
Young.
In what was shaping up to be a role reversal within the family, let’s go back to when Victoria was a key member of the MSC pitching staff during her freshman year. Arguably her crowning moment in the circle came when she came on relief during the 2017 losers’ bracket final against Johnston and gave her team a fighting chance to “mount” a comeback.
Young earned the win after allowing just two runs on four hits in five innings as the Mounties lived to see another day after posting a 9-8 triumph over the Panthers. A great ride fell short with Barrington claiming the 2017 Division II title with a 3-2 win over Mount.
Reflecting on that five-game playoff run, Young remembers the seniors from that 2017 group being so accepting.
“I was glad to be on the field as a freshman and had great seniors to look up to. Losing that championship game was hard, but they were there and so inspiring,” she said. “We all had our hearts in it. We just wanted to win. We put everything aside and just played. We were hoping to get that opportunity this year.”
Young’s sophomore and junior seasons at Mount resembled a rollercoaster.
The team saw their win total regress – 9-8 in Division II in 2018 to 5-11 as a Division I participant in 2019 – and was under the leadership of three coaches over that same span.
Through everything, Young was a stable force both in the field and at the plate. She was the 2019 choice for team MVP and was selected Third Team All-Division. This season, she was one of two captains appointed by first-year head coach Henry Coleman, who relied on veterans such as Young in effort to become better familiar with the returning players.
“She was good in terms of giving me a head’s-up on background as far as the players who were coming back … what to expect and what we could be looking at for the possible season,” said Coleman. “In the limited time we were able to conduct workouts, it was clear she was a very positive kid and a good influence on her younger teammates. Anything and everything, she was willing to help out. Those are the true qualities of what a captain should be.”
Coleman was looking forward to penciling Young’s name in the middle of the lineup and play her either at shortstop or center field.
“She definitely would have given us some great production at the plate and also in the field, especially with her speed as far as covering a lot of ground and her arm strength,” said Coleman “She was someone who we would have had plenty of flexibility with.”
Alas, Coleman will never have the chance to coach someone who like himself is a bit superstitious. In terms of the senior profile that Young submitted that will eventually be published under the softball team’s Twitter account, she noted that she’s eaten the same sandwich at school for four straight years. She’s also in the habit of drinking five bottles of water during the school day and eating one orange per day.
“I really like my routine. If I didn’t have softball my life from spring through summer when I travel ball, it might not be like that,” said Young.
Come the fall, Young will enroll at Bryant University. She's looking into possibly becoming a physician's assistant or physical therapist. She’s also interested in psychology.
“I want to explore and learn as much as I can,” said Young.
Contact was made with Bryant softball head coach Nick controlling play
French with Young receiving an invitation for a tryout. “Just being able to do that is cool,” said Young. Added Coleman, “You don’t know until you go out there and see what happens. You only live life once. You never know what could possibly happen.”
One of Young’s hobbies is taking care of Bella, her horse. She’s also been making sure her youngster sister understands that time goes by quickly. Like Victoria, Olivia Young will only have three seasons to play softball at Mount.
“She’s working hard every day,” noted Young, who’s part of Mount’s Class of 2020.
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