At Case, no dropoff
No. 7 Cardinals (5-0) set sights for another title
The message was clear from Day 1 of the preseason for the Joseph Case softball tea: this is not a rebuild.
“From the first practice, [coach Shannon Silva] made it very, very clear she is expecting nothing less than she expected last year, this team is still just as good,” said Skye Dupre, a junior captain.
“When you know your coach believes in you, and when you know your coach has confidence in you, it’s definitely an important thing.”
The Cardinals, who cruised to a 24-1 record and the Division 4 state championship last June, the program’s first title since 2001 last spring, graduated five of nine starters.
So there have been adjustments. Junior Bre Fontes shifted from first to behind the plate. Dupre is now at second after playing left field last year. And Case welcomed freshman Lila Alvarez to the circle.
Ranked seventh in this week’s Globe Top 20, Joseph Case is off to a 5-0 start, the latest win a 2-1 nail-biter over Dighton-Rehoboth Monday night.
Alvarez has racked up 43 strikeouts in 29 innings, compiling a 1.18 earned run average.
The bats, which fueled a 321-57 run differential last season, are still moving.
Dupre (.579 average ), junior first baseman Ella Pres- ton (.533), Fontes (.484), senior center fielder Megan Smith (.474), senior shortstop Lily Picard (.429), and junior third baseman Nicole Rebelo (.400) are all excelling at the plate.
The keys to that success? Consistency and familiarity.
The softball curriculum at Case is streamlined. At every varsity practice, the reserves at each position take as many reps in every drill as the starters. More often than not, the junior varsity joins the varsity at practice, which cultivates an early understanding of the expectations.
“We knew we were going to be losing a heavy amount of key players, so we started planning for this season on day one of 2023,” said Silva, in her sixth season. “So while the girls are young, they definitely have experience and tons of talent.”
Silva, a Case alumna, is no stranger to competitive softball in Eastern Massachusetts.
Growing up on the South Coast, Silva played travel ball for the Rebels, coached by her father, Glen Medeiros, then pitched Case to back-toback state titles (1995-96), before playing collegiately at Bridgewater State and Pine Minor.
When her own daughter, Olivia, began to show interest in the sport, Silva revived the travel program as the South Coast Rebels, and accepted a position as pitching coach at UMass Dartmouth.
Olivia joined the Rebels at age 8 (and she and a few of her travel teammates helped fuel the championship run last spring). When Shannon was offered the varsity job at Case, she left the decisions up to her daughter, then an eighth grader.
Olivia emphatically told her mother to take the job.
“It was fantastic because all of those kids I coached [at Case], I had coached previously in travel ball. They pretty much grew up in my household, so it was awesome to coach them to a state championship in their senior year,” said the coach.
After three years behind the plate at Case, Olivia is now playing as a freshman at UMass Dartmouth.
Last season, to strengthen her team’s work in the circle, Silva added former Greater New Bedford ace Madison Medeiros as pitching coach. She had previously played for Silva’s Rebels, and pitched the 2022 GNB team to a state title.
“Over the years, I have experienced her passion and knowledge of the game,” Medeiros said. “Shannon strives to provide her players with the tools they need to succeed.”
Silva’s technical understanding of the game goes a long way toward shaping her athletes not only physically, but mentally, too.
“I’ve never had a coach until her that has been so smart with the game,” said Smith, who has committed to play field hockey at Bryant University. “She just knows the game so well.”
Though she’ll attribute the Cardinals’ accomplishments to the team’s grit and talent, it’s no doubt Silva is what makes the Case softball program tick.
“Coaching is what makes this program the way it is,” Dupre said. “She knows all of our strengths, all of our weaknesses, and . . . she can see the best in everybody that plays for her.”
Extra bases
■ A 3-0 start with wins over Bay State Conference power Walpole and last year’s Division 2 semifinalist, Somerset Berkley, have cemented what first-year coach Charlie Drane thought was possible for 20th-ranked Milton.
With a large contingency of the team playing for the Milton Monarchs or the Bay State Thunder, Drane knew the talent was there.
“This is a good group,” said Drane. “I’m very fortunate to come into this group.”
The senior pitching duo of MK Maloney and Abby Hunt have combined to allow just seven runs, throwing a large percentage of strikes with quality velocity.
“I want Milton softball to be contending in Division 2 every year,” said Drane.
■ No. 19 Bishop Fenwick scheduled a grueling stretch to start the season.
The Crusaders (1-2) dropped the opener, a nine-inning loss to No. 10 Bishop Feehan, 1-0. Senior standout Gigi Aupont, a Central Connecticut State commit, helped earn a 4-2 victory over St. Mary’s, pitching opposite her step-sister, Spartans’ freshman standout Aliza Crean-Oviedo .No.5 Archbishop Williams outlasted the Crusaders, 6-5, in 10 innings. Up next after a gauntlet of Catholic Central League foes? No. 3 Peabody.
“It was a nice set up, the way it fell because of what we did last year, what we have in Gigi [Aupont], and most of the core coming back,” said Bishop Fenwick coach Brian Seabury.