ANDOVER – She may have begun her sophomore year as a cushion in the circle, a luxury second option for the Central Catholic softball team.
A dozen games into the season – all Raider wins – Maddie Estepe is no insurance policy.
She’s a weapon and proved that again in Central’s 10-8 thrilling win over Andover on Monday.
“She’s really composed, and she’s done a good job playing shortstop for us. But the nice thing, is that Chloe (Salerno) has been carrying the weight of the offense. There’s a lot of pressure to do both, offense and in the circle,” said Central coach Stacy Ciccolo. “It’s been nice to be able to give Chloe a little bit of a break and to let Madelyn come in and settle things down.
“She’s got a great future ahead of her pitching. She’s going to get a lot more innings. They’re both so competitive in that circle. Both of them want the ball. But for Madelyn to come into this tough situation, especially with the pressure on in the bottom of the seventh on their field, is really quite a bit of poise for a sophomore.”
Estepe swapped spots with the returning Eagle-Tribune All-Star Salerno, moving from short to the mound, with one out in the fourth and the bases full of Warriors. She went on to strike out two of the top hitters in a stacked Andover lineup to escape the jam.
“I like the pressure a lot. I like to build from it, and having my teammates around me helps me feed into it and stay in the moment,” said Estepe.
Things got even hotter as Andover tied things up at 7-7, heading to the seventh.
And again, Estepe answered the call for the Raiders with a dramatic, two-out, three-run homer over the fence in center.
There was still work to be done. Andover refused to quit and put the tying runs on in the bottom half of the frame with one out, only to have Estepe shut the door and preserve the Raiders’ perfect mark.
“I wanted to come back stronger than I did last year, so I really put in the work,” said Estepe, of the secret to her success.
“I feel like just getting gritty with everything, really bearing down when the time comes and just making the most of every moment (was key to stepping it up). I really just focused on all my pitches, trying to drown out all the outside noise and focusing on the game at hand.”
Game notes
With the loss, Andover fell to 7-3.
Stella Clements launched a two-run homer and added a single for the Raiders. Emily Goc singled and doubled, driving in a pair. Salerno and Meg Maresca each doubled and tripled for the Raiders.
For the Warriors, Caroline Samaras had three hits. Alivia Baldwin, Emerson Sintros and Aria Fraser all had RBI singles.