POWER SOURCE: Hun School softball player Meghan Donohue takes a swing in a game last season. Junior third baseman Donohue will be counted on to provide punch in the middle of the Hun batting order this spring as the Raiders look to defend their state Prep A title. Hun opens the 2018 season by hosting Penn Charter on March 29. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

For the Hun School softball team, 2017 turned into a dream season as the Raiders went 14-2 and won the program’s first state Prep A title since 2004.

Looking ahead to the upcoming season, longtime Hun head coach Kathy Quirk knows it will be a challenge to produce an encore.

“As we told them, right now we have a target on our back and everyone is after us,” said Quirk, whose team is slated to open the 2018 season by hosting Penn Charter (Pa.) on March 29. “To do it again won’t be easy.”

Quirk liked the way her players got after it on their annual spring break jaunt to Florida earlier this month.

“The trip was good; we had some ups and downs and it was a learning experience,” said Quirk. “It is a good group of kids working hard. They are excited for the season to start.”

Hun will feature a solid group of pitchers in last year’s ace, senior Alanna Pearson, along with senior Julia Revock, junior Izzy Martinez, and junior transfer Erin Harrigan.

“Everybody rotated in and out on the Florida trip, no one is set in stone,” said Quirk. “They all have a different style, none of them are the same. We are not sure how everything is going to play out yet.”

Quirk is pretty sure that Hun will be able to pile up plenty of runs this year.

“We did fairly well in Florida with hitting, we were consistent,” said Quirk. “I think the girls were excited about the hitting. We saw some good pitching. It was a good experience for them to see what they can do.”

The Raiders feature a good mix of table-setters and power in the batting order. Sophomore Gigi Venizelos, Revock, and sophomore Abby Zucatti figure to be catalysts with junior Meghan Donohue, freshman Hanna Babuschak, and sophomore Jackie Drozd providing some punch.

“Gigi is doing a nice job leading off; we have tried to make her into a player like Julie Fassl, who could get on base every time,” said Quirk.

“We had Revock batting second and we played around with three. Abby was there for a bit. Donohue is our cleanup hitter, she hit two nice home runs in Florida. Hanna had a nice bat in Florida as well. Jackie also had a real strong bat.”

The squad also boasts a strong defense, returning its starting infield intact with Revock at first base, senior Keelan Ryan at second, Venizelos at shortstop, and Donohue playing third. Quirk is looking at Babuschak and junior MC Shea at catcher with Drozd in left field, Zucatti in center, and a possible platoon in right.

In order for the Raiders to match last season’s heroics, they will need to focus on the task at hand.

“We need to play with confidence and play each game day by day,” said Quirk. “We can’t come out there overconfident; we need to play our game.”