DIAMOND JEWEL: Hun School softball shortstop Julia Blake makes a play in a game last spring. Sophomore Blake is looking to build on a superb debut season for the Raiders, which saw her star in the field and with the bat. Hun opens the 2013 season by hosting the Hill School (Pa.) on March 28.
(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Kathy Quirk didn’t have to wait until this spring to see something special in her Hun School softball team.

“They did a weightlifting program over the winter with our new trainer,” said longtime Hun head coach Quirk.

“The kids are pumped up. The three seniors [Carey Million, Joey Crivelli, and Danielle Beal] are good leaders on and off the field. They were getting people to come in for the weightlifting.”

Quirk is confident she has two starting pitchers in freshman Alexis Goeke and Beal who will get a lot of people out this spring.

“Goeke is going to help us,” asserted Quirk, whose team opens the 2013 season by hosting the Hill School (Pa.) on March 28.

“She is strong and young and can only get better. She wants to be out there, she is a competitor. Beal pitched well in Florida. We are going to use both of them. They complement each other and are supportive of each other.”

The Raiders should be able to provide good defensive support to the pitchers. Hun will feature Elon University-bound Million at catcher with sophomore Caitlin Hoagland at first base backed up by Goeke and junior Kameron McNair, Crivelli at second, sophomore star Julia Blake at shortstop, and Beal at third. Across the outfield, Quirk will use junior Alexa Fares in left, junior Kristen Manochio in center, and junior Lauren Moonan in right.

Over its recent preseason trip down south, Hun showed some hitting punch that impressed Quirk.

“In Florida we were hitting very well, we swung the bats as well as I have seen us do down there,” said Quirk, whose team went 9-7 in 2012 and advanced to the state Prep A semis. “We will lead off with Blake, followed by Beal, Goeke, Million, and Manochio.”

The Raiders will be relying on its trio of seniors to take the lead this spring. “They have the desire,” said Quirk.

“Our seniors have been in the semis or the finals the past few years and we have lost by a run or in extra innings. They have to believe in themselves and that they can do it.”

Quirk, for her part, believes the squad can do some special things this spring. “I have high hopes, I hope they meet my expectations of going for Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) and state championships,” said Quirk.

“We have to stay focused. We won all seven games in Florida. I know it wasn’t the greatest competition. We have to take that experience and build on it and get better.”