'Our bond is insane': Field softball sparked by brilliant junior class

COVENTRY TWP. — Classes like Field's Class of 2025 don't come along very often.

Not anywhere.

Certainly not at a school Field's size.

The Falcons' junior class has flexed its muscles across sports, from the pitch to the hardwood to the diamond.

"Our bond is insane," said one of those juniors, Mckayla Miller. "Most of us play three sports, so we're always together, and I think that really helps on the field. It [is] just that chemistry and we can just read each other."

Still, for a few of the nine juniors on Field's softball team, this week brought something new: a league title, a share of which it clinched with Tuesday's 10-2 victory over Norton.

"There's a good core of them that won it their freshman year [but] a lot of the kids didn't get to experience that league title [that] year, and, to be honest, have never won a league title in any of the sports," Falcons coach Beth Dyer said Monday. "So to win one and to bring it back to Field, I think, would feel really good for everybody."

Four of this year's nine juniors were on Field's league (and district) championship softball team of 2022.

All four, not coincidentally, were pitchers, as Dyer needed to replace longtime ace Alexsa Hurd that year. So pitchers Maddie Burge, Olivia Dyer, Kailyn Gressman and Tia Ulrich got the bump up to varsity as freshmen, though Ulrich quickly found herself playing shortstop, instead. A couple more played as freshmen on the Field girls soccer team that stunned Streetsboro in the 2021 MAC Tournament championship game.

But, as Dyer noted, for a few others, this week's league title surely meant a little bit more.

Miller, who was on that 2021 championship soccer team but didn't get the chance to contribute much, was one of the juniors chasing what was, in a sense, her first league title.

"I think it would mean a lot to get it back," Miller said Monday, "because the seniors last year meant a lot to us and then we lost, so I think to get it back this year would be big."

Field's Class of 2025 has quantity and quality

This Falcons' junior class is special, highlighted by Maddie Burge, who already has nine home runs in 2024, two off Hurd's single-season record. That includes a ball she absolutely destroyed at Logan Field Monday.

Dyer said she could feel it coming.

Burge was hitless in her first four at-bats Monday. And Burge typically doesn't go hitless for long.

"She usually does hit the ball hard," Dyer said. "You kind of felt that she was due for something up there because she'd put the ball in play, but it just wasn't her normal hard hit."

Even more impressive than Burge's bevy of homers has been her work in the circle, as she recorded her 12th win Monday at Coventry and her 13th Tuesday against Norton.

A year ago, Burge's back was acting up and limited her ability to pitch. So the junior worked on refining her motion.

"Last year, it was really hard because I actually went further back than what I do now," Burge said. "So it was putting a lot more pressure on that, so the PT went through all that and then my pitching coach. We tweaked a few things."

Down 5-3 in the third inning, the Comets had a chance to draw even with two runners on and one out. Burge struck out the next two batters, both looking, on nasty low curves.

"The curveball is a new pitch this year," Burge said. "[I] barely have thrown it, but [I've] been working at it, and it's definitely a good ability to have, especially going to the next step."

Not that Burge was the only junior to star.

Miller jumped on a high pitch in the second inning for her first homer of the year. Her next at-bat was equally impressive, though more subtle, as the junior fouled off a bunch of pitches with a runner in scoring position, then scooped the ninth pitch of the at-bat up the middle for an RBI single.

"I was struggling a little bit and I definitely put [in] a lot of extra work early mornings before games," Miller said. "So it felt good to finally go out there and go 3 for 3."

Seven of the Falcons' nine starters Monday were juniors. Six of the seven had hits, and five of the seven drove in at least one run, including Jessica Pollard's two-run single over short to put the Falcons in front.

Junior classes like this simply don't come along every day.

"I think that competition is what pushes us to be better every day because we know our class is so strong," Miller said. "So you have to be on your A game or there's somebody behind you ready to come in, so I think we just keep pushing each other every day."

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Juniors spark Field softball's Metro Athletic Conference title