Walking into Coach Bruce Addison’s office, the first things I noticed were all the pictures on the walls. Pictures of his players (former and current) and team photos hang from the walls of his office. His passion for his job and his players is obvious. The second things I noticed were the trophies on his desk, one being his 2012 LEC Coach of the Year award. When I sat down with Coach Addison to talk about the upcoming softball season, his 10th as head coach of the Panthers softball team, these were the things that caught my eye. Just sitting in his office tells you that Coach Addison is passionate and good at his job. After looking at the pictures and trophies, I sat down with Coach Addison and we talked about a few of his favorite things: his players, his team, and softball.
Matthew Ormsbee (MO): The preseason poll for the Little East Conference (LEC) came out, and Plymouth was ranked 3rd. Is this higher than you expected, lower than you expected, or right where you expected to be ranked?
Bruce Addison (BA): I think right now, it’s hard to predict what other people think of us and all that stuff, but you know, our expectations were pretty high. I’m glad that we got the recognition from our peer coaches in the LEC. We’re proud of that, and we’re just trying to live up to those expectations.
MO: You have 10 returning players this year, almost the same team as last year. Some say experience can only help a team, do you agree?
BA: Totally. I think, last year, we didn’t really have an identity when we were down in Florida. We weren’t really sure what type of team we could be and exactly what everyone’s role was. As we left Florida last year, we still weren’t quite sure. We just didn’t execute when we were down there. So, if you want to put it on experience, you can say that, but we just didn’t play that well.
MO: They all found their roles, though?
BA: Yeah, I think everyone defined their role after 10 games. It takes a while in softball and baseball to understand where you’re going be and how you’re going to be used. Because as coaches, you have an idea of how kids are going to be used, but you’re just not sure if that’s going to pan out the way you predict.
MO: Nora Galvin (junior; Windham, NH), Cynthia Barata (sophomore; New Farfield, CT), and Ali Keith (senior; Northfield, NH) all return to the pitching circle this year. All had ERAs over 4.00, last season. What can they build on from last season and where can they improve?
BA: Health. Ali, it was her first year coming back from cancer. Nora, she had a torn labrum throughout the whole year last year. Cynthia Barata really pitched well at times, and she was only a freshman last year. Her gaining experience is going to help us as well. I think with Nora, she might get most of the workload for us, but we have three other kids that are in the mix as well. So, the challenge for me is how to use these kids in certain situations and hopefully they can be ready at any time.
MO: Do you have a certain rotation? Like, do you have a “Number-1” or are you just going to use them in certain situations?
BA: Well, right now, Nora has the most experience. So, with her being healthy, I think she will probably get the start in game number-one, and she might pitch 3 or 4 innings, and then we’ll try and mix up the match-ups depending on the opponent we’re playing.
MO: Last year, the team batting average was .323. What batting approach do you preach to your players and is there anything you will tell them to change this year compared to last year?
BA: We always preach to the kids not to get themselves out. If they have a 1-0 or 2-0 count, we want them to be aggressive, but we want them to be smart at the same time. We don’t want them chasing. It’s bad enough when the pitcher’s throwing good stuff, but if we’re swinging at bad pitches then we’re getting ourselves out. So, being patient, but try to be aggressive at the same time, and that seemed to work last year so we hope to do it again this year.
MO: Last season, Bekah Jackson (junior; Nashua, NH) hit .431, scored 45 runs, stole 25 bases, and had a .475 OBP. She was also first-team All-New England and Little East Conference Rookie of the Year. How much does she mean to your lineup, and what are your expectations for her this season?
BA: Bekah is a dynamic player. She’s one of the best players in the LEC. She bats at the top of the lineup, and she sets the tone: getting on base, stealing bases, just causing havoc, putting pressure on the defense. Not a lot of players can do all that, but she has power as well. She doesn’t really have a weakness. She can bunt, run, and just do all kinds of things to put a lot of pressure on the defense. She means a lot to our lineup, and if she has a good day, odds are we’ll have a good day as well.
MO: Last season, Jackie Digman (junior; Burlington, MA) hit .418 and had 31 RBIs, and Sam Hebert (junior; Manchester, NH) hit .354 and had 38 RBIs. Does it make your job easy having two players you can slot into the middle of your lineup every game?
BA: Yeah, right now looking down the road, the top five kids in our lineup, I’m hoping, is going to be set. We just have a question after that. I think I have our 8 and 9 hitters pretty much penciled in as well. Not that they are 8 or 9 hitters, but they’re going to help out the top of the lineup with getting on base.
MO: What you talked about with players finding their roles?
BA: Exactly. I’m talking about Calli DeGrace (senior; Plymouth, NH) and Jenn Bove (senior; Medford, MA). I’m hoping they’re going to be my 8, 9 hitters like they were last year. Bove was second-team [All-New England] designated player last year, and she batted ninth for us as well. So, throughout the whole lineup, it’s deep, it’s experienced, and I’m just hoping that we do the same thing we did last year and more.
MO: Softball and baseball are different from other sports because there is so much downtime. Whether it is between innings, in the middle of a double-header, or in the dugout when your team is batting, there is a lot of time where the players are on the sidelines just hanging out with each other, and because of this, team chemistry is as vital to a team’s success just as much as their performance on the field. How is this team’s chemistry and who are your “glue-girls” who keep the team together and moving in the right direction?
BA: Baseball and softball, they’re unique. It’s a challenge for team chemistry. First of all, the substitution rules are so different. If I take a kid out, without the reentry rule in softball, that might be it for the kid. So, she might only get one inning, one at-bat, or whatever it may be. In other sports, there’s re-substitution and you can substitute freely. So, that’s unique for baseball and softball. Team chemistry is vital, and this year it falls upon our captains: Ali Keith, Jen Bove, and Nora Galvin. Nora is one of our team clowns, and she makes sure that everyone is loose, but yet, when she’s out there on the mound, she’s a bulldog. You can just tell that she loves to compete. That’s what we want from players. When it comes time, we have to compete; we have to execute. If we do that, we’ll see a lot of wins.
MO: Last season, your team outscored your opponents by 30 runs, but only finished 21-21. You were 6-11 in games decided by 3 runs or fewer. Can this be chalked up to plain-old bad luck or lack of execution in tight games, and how do you plan to improve in winning those close games this year?
BA: There were times last year when I thought we were flat against lesser opponents. So, we end up splitting a double-header, for example, when I feel like we should have won both games.
MO: Like playing down to your competition?
BA: I don’t want to say that because when you play, you’re always trying to compete. Again, with baseball and softball, any given day all it takes is to have an “off-day” and you can lose to anybody. A pitcher from the opposing team can have an outstanding game, and she might be able to shut you down. The game’s funny that way. You don’t know what’s going to transpire each game. You could win 8-0 the first game, and then the next game could be a 2-1 ballgame against the same team and the same lineup. It’s different every game. We try to preach that every pitch, every swing, every throw, and every inning has a meaning. All our games count. It’s not like we’re going down to Florida for Spring Training. These games count. Our goal is try to improve upon our competition for when we get back to the LEC. That’s our goal when we go down there, to play really good teams. That’s going to get us ready for when we come back here and be prepared to play the tough schedule we have when we get back home.
MO: Are there any newcomers on the team that can be expected to make an impact this season?
BA: We got two kids that can pitch and play in the field. Vanessa Przybylo is a freshman out of [Queensbury,] New York. She’s probably going to be our mainstay at third base, and I’m hoping she is going to be our 2-hitter for the whole year. She’s very athletic, and she’s got really good stuff pitching. Then, Whitney Roberts (Chocorua, NH) transferred, so she is a sophomore this year. She’s probably going to be tabbed as our right fielder and she can pitch as well. Sara Gaudet (Londonderry, NH) is a freshman pitcher. I think she’s just going to pitch mostly, but she’ll get a few at-bats here and there. So, we have three kids that are positional players and pitchers, and that’s going to help add to the team that we had last year.
MO: What were the weaknesses of last year’s team, and what are the plans to improve them this year?
BA: Last year’s weakness…there were times where we just didn’t pitch well, and then there were times where we didn’t back-up the pitchers behind their good efforts. There were times when we just didn’t make key outs when we needed to. Like you said, we were 6-11 in close games. So, we just didn’t make a play or didn’t make a pitch when we had to. It’s hard to put pressure on the offense all the time to score a bunch of runs like we did last year. I’m hoping that’s going to change this year, and if that does change, then we’ll have an even better year than we could hope for.
MO: So, just becoming more consistent while you’re in the field and pitching?
BA: I don’t want to solely put it on the pitching. It was a combination of both. Defensively, last year, I thought was going to be our strong point. I believe that this year, too, knowing that our offense is going to be near the top of the LEC. The bottom line is, if we can lower our ERA a run this year, I think we will have a very successful season, and that’s a challenge to our pitching staff.
MO: What are your expectations for this season; where will this team be at the end of the year?
BA: Well, I hate to predict, but we hope that we’ll be consistent and have a chance to win every game we play. That’s all I wish for is that, and we’ll take the wins where they stand. Talent-wise, I think we’re one of the best teams in the LEC, and we just have to go out and prove it. The only way to do that is go out and play each game one-by-one, inning-by-inning, and out-by-out. If we do that, I’m excited to see where we are at the end of the year. It’s just a matter of we have to go out and prove it.