Bronx Science won the PSAL Bronx A title last season in just its fourth season since coming up from the ‘B’ league. But the Wolverines have their sights set higher now. They want to win their first ‘A’ playoff game and earn a measure of respect for their borough, which isn’t as known for softball as Staten Island, Brooklyn or Queens.
“You have to raise the bar,” coach Tom Morris said. “You have to use that as the starting point and raise the expectations.”
That’s a hard thing to do when you graduate eight seniors. But, with a decent core returning and some promising newcomers, Morris would not be surprised if his team is right back on top of Bronx A for the second straight year.
“We’ve got the talent to do pretty well,” he said. “At this point, it’s a well-developed program.”
The Wolverines were one of the best hitting teams in the PSAL last year, but lacked the pitching that could have gotten them deep into the playoffs. That might change this year. Junior Kelly Chewens, their steady mainstay last year, return and she’ll split time with sophomore windmiller Stephanie Sfiroudis, the team’s best hitter who struggled with her control as a freshman.
Sfiroudis said she went to a pitching coach over the summer and has made great strides. She’s throwing a four-seamer, a two-seamer and a changeup. Senior shortstop Mackenzie Charter joked that her best pitch needs to be “the strike.” She walked 51 girls in 36 innings last season.
“I’ve been attempting to throw ‘the strike’ more,” joked Sfiroudis, a travel player from Queens.
With her bat in the middle of the order, Science will once again be potent offensively. She hit .591 with three home runs and 29 RBIs. Charter, the long-armed rangy shortstop, hit .478 with a home run and 25 RBIs. Morris will also welcome back senior Phoebe Mankiewicz, who played soccer the last two seasons. With that season changing to the fall, it opened her up to play softball now.
“She was one of the best hitters on our team [as a freshman],” Morris said. “It was a big blow to lose her.”
Mankiewicz will probably see time at third base with Sfiroudis or Chewens, who might also play second when she isn’t pitching. Two freshman, Kaitlin Finnerty and Mary Platt, are fighting over the first base job. Both could also start in the outfield joining senior Sarah Braithwaite and sophomore Nicole Srbin, who has emerged as a force in the middle of the order.
“She has the chance to be one of the best outfielders in The Bronx,” Morris said.
The coach said the team will be more balanced this year – maybe not as good offensively, but stronger in pitching and defense. Morris took over a team that was 7-11 four years ago and has made it a perennial Bronx power.
“The team is much more intense than it was my freshman year,” Mankiewicz said.
It’s a well-respected program now. And the next step may not be too distant.
“We have experience and the underclassmen have really been stepping up,” Charter said. “Tom is a great coach and that combination looks like it could take us far.”