Nyack Softball Program Rebuilds With Youth Movement

Three years ago the Nyack High School softball program folded its junior varsity team, setting in motion a multi-year program rebuild that is starting to pay off this year.

With a relatively young team — just one senior and two starters from eighth grade — the Indians are off to a 7-3 start at the midway point of their season. Last year they went 10-10 and lost their first game in the sectionals to Pelham.

“The first year was rough and it took some time to adjust,” said Head Coach Stephanie Ryan. “We had 12-year-olds playing against and with 18-year-olds. We wouldn’t have brought up the middle schoolers if we didn’t think they could handle it, but there was still an adjustment period.”

Ryan is in her third year as coach of the Indians, and has overseen a lot of the rebuild in the program. In her first year as coach, there were three middle schoolers on the team who are now some of the more experienced players on the Indians despite not even being halfway through high school. Megan Sneeden and Michaela Conteras joined the team in seventh grade and are now freshmen, while Jenna Lane joined in eighth grade and is now a sophomore.

All three are starters this year, and Sneeden, the team’s catcher, earned all-league, section and county honors last year.

“We have sophomores and juniors on the team now that are in their first year on the team, and they look up to those girls who have been around even though they’re younger,” said Dominique Meara, one of Nyack’s captains and the only senior on the team. “I ask them for advice too. It’s not really that weird. There’s no grade issue. We treat each other like we’re all in the same grade We’ve become like a family, and we’re all just trying to help each other out.”

The team’s other captain, junior Tiffany Salcito, said the older players are always welcoming to the younger players, including those who come from the middle school.

“They help on and off the field,” said Salcito, who joined varsity in eighth grade. “Once you get to the high school, they help you find your way around and tell you how to get to classes. It’s good to have people you already know in the school and know they have your back.”

Nyack’s experienced youth has played a big hand in the Indians’ solid start. Eighth-grader MacKenzie Johnson is playing her second year of varsity and is the team’s top starting pitcher. She kicked off the year rather impressively when she struck out 20 batters in the team’s season opener, a 6-1 win at home against Ossining.

“She’s been big for the team this year,” Ryan said. “The girls know they have a pitcher who can go out there and shut down other teams.”

Ryan said she felt confident bringing up the team’s other middle school starter, second baseman Arielle Rodriquez, because she already played varsity field hockey.

Salcito said she it’s been fun to watch the team mesh together this year.

“We’re all familiar with each other now,” she said. “We all talk more on defense. I think we have the talent to win our league. It’s a tough league. It’s going to be a battle, but I think we can do it.”

Ryan thinks the future of not only her team, but the Nyack softball program looks positive too. The JV team was only folded for a year.

“This year I think JV has 18 girls on it,” Ryan said. “We’ve seen an increased interest in the team, and I think it’s because of all the talented girls we have on the team. They’ve really helped rejuvenate the program.”