Power switch back on: After toying with quitting, W-H softball slugger finds her groove

WHITMAN -- Cassidy Briggs plays basketball for Whitman-Hanson High, so she knows all about assists. She delivered a big one this spring when she convinced teammate Taryn Leonard to not drop softball in favor of concentrating solely on AAU hoops.

Without Briggs' intervention, the Panthers' program would have been deprived of a huge power source that has helped keep the young squad (just one senior) competitive in the rough-and-tumble Patriot League.

"I was thinking about sitting this one out," Leonard acknowledged, "but she convinced me to come back and play. It was a good choice. I was just going to focus on basketball, but she convinced me otherwise."

Leonard, a standout forward/center in basketball, is a polished center fielder and slugger on the diamond. The 5-9 junior came into Tuesday's game against Plymouth North hitting .333 with 3 homers and 11 RBIs and then went 4-for-5 and delivered the game-winning hit in the sixth inning in a wild 16-15 come-from-behind win.

"She wasn't going to play at the beginning of the year," Briggs recalled, "but she decided to play and I think it was a blessing. She's a great asset to our team."

"I had known that Taryn was probably not going to come back (to the team this season) just because basketball is what she wants to do after high school," Panthers coach Jordan McDermott said. "Cass just sat her down and had a talk with her, and I think Taryn realized (softball) could be something to keep her busy and keep her occupied. She's very thankful that she came out. And I think we're all very thankful, too, because those would have been tough shoes to fill. And I think after she graduates they're going to be tough shoes to fill as well."

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The Panthers were 4-9 after the Plymouth North game, and Leonard had played a huge part in each of their four wins, starting with a walk-off RBI double to beat Duxbury, 4-3, back on April 8. "That game set a tone," McDermott noted. "It gave everybody some confidence."

Leonard reached the peak of her powers last week. On Monday, April 29 she slugged two homers and drove in 5 runs in a 19-7 win over Quincy/North Quincy. Two days later, W-H got blanked by Silver Lake's Delaney Moquin (one of the state's best pitchers), but Leonard revved up again that Friday with a grand slam and 5 more RBIs in a 15-0 win over Scituate.

She's up to 16 career home runs now.

Briggs describes Leonard's power as "crazy," even though Leonard insists she doesn't swing for the fences. "Nah, I just look for line drives," she said. "See it, hit it."

"She just sees the ball very well and this year she's very calm at the plate, very pitch selective," McDermott said. "She's seeing more pitches because she wants to make sure it's in her zone. And when it's in her zone, that pitch usually ends up getting hit very hard and very far."

Those recent moon shots have a positive effect on team morale, McDermott noted. "They look up to Taryn," the coach said of the Panthers. "When they see her get a home run like that, they're ecstatic and it just keeps their mood hyped, as all the kids say these days."

Leonard just shrugs at the recent homer barrage, saying, "To me that's just another day. I've done that for a while." But she acknowledges that blasting pitches over the fence is a bit of a rush. "It feels good," she said with a grin. "Your teammates are always celebrating (when you get back to the plate) so it's always really fun."

Leonard didn't hit one out against Plymouth North, but she was extremely efficient with four hard-hit singles, including one in the sixth that plated leadoff hitter Victoria Sheehan to break a 15-all tie. One batter earlier, Briggs had ripped a two-run single down the right-field line to tie the score.

Whitman-Hanson had trailed in this one by scores of 3-0, 8-6, 11-9 and 15-13.

"I think it was more of a team thing," Leonard said of the win. "We were stringing hits together. We've had trouble with that this season. This was the game where we opened it up (offensively). I was really happy to see everybody doing their best."

Leonard wants to play basketball in college, but even with her AAU team (Dana Barros Basketball Club) in full swing in the spring she's already decided that she's all in for softball again in 2025.

"I'm super excited for next year," she said. "We have so much potential, so many girls who really want to do well. I'm really excited to see what we can do next year."

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Whitman-Hanson's Leonard delivers powerful punch for Panthers softball