ORANGE — Before Thursday’s game between the Mahar varsity softball team and the Mohawk Warriors, Kayla Baker-LaFrennie came out to the mound and was greeted by her coach, fellow captains and mother. She embraced the quartet as the lone senior set to graduate from this year’s team.
“It’s great to be able to come out here after school and being with all my friends,” said Baker-LaFrennie. “It’s more than just a sport. We are out here, we’re having fun and it’s great.”
Baker-LaFrennie has seen a lot of players come and go around her, including many of her classmates. She has watched classmates earn starting positions as underclassmen that eventually left the sport. She too could have quit. But she didn’t want to give up on something that has brought her so much happiness throughout high school. Instead, she became a captain and leader of a team that has seen 17 different players take the field, a majority as underclassmen.
“I’m genuinely happy being here,” said Baker-LaFrennie. “I’m not one of those people that follow with the crowd. All my friends left, but I genuinely have a good time here and it’s fun.”
“It shows dedication for Kayla because none of her classmates played,” said Jerry Duguay, her coach. “She was the only senior on the team and like I said before, there were certainly talented players in her class that could have played and they opted to do other things. She stuck it out and that shows a lot for her character. Being the only senior, that can be tough.”
Duguay described Baker-LaFrennie as an “unselfish player.” She has played alongside many different teammates this season. Sometimes those teammates played in place of her. It didn’t matter to Baker-LaFrennie, however. She still tried to better herself and her teammates for whatever role they would take on now and in the future.
“(She) certainly allowed her younger teammates to play in her spot, knowing that, you know, we’re still young and trying to develop a stronger team in the future,” Duguay said. “She didn’t mind that at all. She stuck in there. She’s a good teammate, good player to coach.”
Friday’s game marked the second-to-final-game of Baker-LaFrennie’s softball career. Against Mohawk, she had two walks, reached base once on an error and added one run in the fourth inning. Baker-LaFrennie will have one more game at home on Tuesday against Springfield High School of Science and Technology.
Baker-Lafrennie has held down the second-base position for most of the year. She has been on the varsity team for three years and participates in cheerleading outside of softball. Duguay said he will miss her fun attitude and smile most of all.