In a year that Hudson school sports took a major step forward, Hudson Memorial’s softball team was no exception, managing to make the playoffs under first-year head coach Meg Radziewicz, who is the sister of former head coach and current Alvirne softball head coach, Becky Radziewicz.
The Lady Colts rostered 18 total players with 14 on the active roster and four players on the practice squad, getting valuable reps and middle school experience. One of the more interesting notes on their roster composition was the fact that both starting pitchers for Memorial were just sixth graders, which will be an advantage for the Colts in the coming years as Leah Schucart and Hailey Stauch grow through middle school and into high school, especially when you consider the prospect of Alvirne softball and the fact that they will both be freshmen coming off Kenzy Pooler’s graduation.
“Coming into this season as a new coach to the team, I was both excited and nervous because I didn’t know what to expect. The team was a little rough around the edges to start the season, but with hard work and dedication to the sport we all love, the girls were able to make their way to the playoffs. The girls played tough but fell short in the quarter-finals. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of girls for my first season coaching and I look forward to coming back next year stronger than ever,” said coach Meg Radziewicz when asked about the season. “I am so proud of the progress these girls made throughout the season. They worked hard to improve themselves both individually and as a team. It was a pleasure coaching them,” added Assistant Coach Meg Powers.
The Colts were led offensively by Em Powers who, across 11 games this season, hit for a .435 average while putting up a .522 slugging percentage (total bases divided by plate appearances) and getting on base 65.8% of the time, racking up an OPS (on-base-plus-slugging) of 1.180, which even in just 38 plate appearances is exceptional. Karisa Ruiter wasn’t far behind in OPS, and she put up a 1.077 OPS in 30 plate appearances across nine games. HMS was also a perfect 23/23 in stolen base attempts on the season, which is a testament to a sound baserunning and speed combination that any team would love to have.
In the circle, Leah Shucart and Hailey Stauch carried most of the workload with Claire Gonthier throwing 3.1 innings out of the bullpen. Stauch was the team’s ace, throwing 44.1 innings and pitching to just a 4.26 ERA. Leach Shucart pitched to a 10.84 ERA in 20.2 innings. With all three set to return to HMS in 2025, the Colts are in solid shape in the circle for next year as well. “I feel that as a team and as individual players, we have all improved so much. Although we had some tough losses, we learned to be a better team on the field and off. Through the season we learned to collaborate better on the field with our communication and we supported each other through games that were tough mentally, errors, mistakes, losses and wins. Each girl who stepped out onto the field played their position in a way that makes the team proud. Overall, Colts 2024 softball was a great experience and I’m so proud of each and every player,” said co-captain Liv Burtt about her team that went 4-6 in the regular season and went on to lose in the quarter-finals to third-seeded Timberlane on the road 8-1.
Next season, the Colts will be looking to take a step forward in year two under Meg Radziewicz and potentially make a run at bringing another Tri-County Championship to Hudson Memorial in 2025, but for 2024, while they fell short in their ultimate goal, they showed perseverance that can turn into momentum for years to come.
