DGAL softball swings into the season
A face of concentration for the Texas Longhorns on Sunday, April 26 during an opening day game. Photos by Abby Van Selous
An LSU player runs for first base.
A player from team Notre Dame takes a swing.
A Texas Longhorn athlete runs for third base.
Gearing up for the pitch.
LSU's catcher makes the catch.
An LSU player keeps her eye on the pitcher as she looks to run for home plate.
An LSU athlete up for bat.
The parade ends with the playing of the National Anthem.
LSU up to bat.
Running for home plate.
Keeping her eye on the ball.
A Notre Dame player swings the bat.
Boston College throws the pitch.
Running for third base.
A face of concentration for the Texas Longhorns on Sunday, April 26 during an opening day game. Photos by Abby Van Selous
An LSU player runs for first base.
A player from team Notre Dame takes a swing.
A Texas Longhorn athlete runs for third base.
Gearing up for the pitch.
LSU's catcher makes the catch.
An LSU player keeps her eye on the pitcher as she looks to run for home plate.
An LSU athlete up for bat.
The parade ends with the playing of the National Anthem.
LSU up to bat.
Running for home plate.
Keeping her eye on the ball.
A Notre Dame player swings the bat.
Boston College throws the pitch.
Running for third base.
While the weather may have been dreary in the morning of Sunday, April 26, spirits were high on the Quinn School ball fields as girls took to the pitch in the Dartmouth Girls Athletic League’s softball opening day.
As part of the opening day festivities, the girls paraded down Hawthorne Road with banners displaying their team names, all inspired by colleges like Boston College and Louisiana State University.
This was the second year in a row that the softball season began with a parade, which Coach Jay Laviolette said is a way to “try to get everybody involved, all the different teams and families.”
Alexa Aguiar, 13, said it was “pretty cool being with your whole team and getting to see who everyone is and meeting them.”
Laviolette said that there’s a lot of excitement and anticipation on opening day.
“A lot of the girls have been inside all year,” he said. “Whenever you get some weather, it’s always good to get outside and play, and a lot of the girls love it.”
Laviolette said that the number of girls participating in the league is growing, with girls between the ages of five and 18 participating.
“The numbers keep growing every year, which is good, especially for female sports,” he said. “You want the league to continue to grow [because] it’s for the girls.”
Mikaela Santiago,13, has been playing DGAL softball for the past several years and said after her first game of the season that it was “pretty good.”
“I was very surprised about how I played, but I feel like I did pretty good,” she said.
Santiago, Aguiar and Avery Caton agreed that the people and community that make DGAL happen are what they like most about the program.
“The people, the community are always so nice to everyone,” said Caton, 13.
Laviolette noted that the softball program is made possible by community members coming together.
“It’s a bunch of people,” he said. “It’s good for the girls [and] good for the community when you got a lot of people that are on board.”
The girls will play 15 games in the regular season followed by 10 days-worth of playoffs, with the program wrapping up by the Fourth of July.
Caton had a simple goal for the season: “Do our best and try our hardest.”
