Madison Eucalitto | Hometown: Old Saybrook, Conn. | Psychology

To my second family:

I am currently sitting here in the Ridgeway Conference room where we can always be found before practice, games, and even on our off days. We are just two days away from Senior Day, so I took a look back on the last four years here at Suffolk. Freshman year I came in extremely nervous and, as coach would say, I looked like “a deer in headlights” at every fall practice. I joined the team with a class of 15 freshmen and we slowly became eight by the end of that year, so you could say I was a little nervous. I am so grateful that my teammates and coaches had the confidence in me and believed I would be successful because of my work ethic in the off season with my fellow teammates. We motivated each other, and we still do to this day. The freshmen and I, believe it or not, were an extremely shy bunch and it took us a long time to come out of our shell, and now every day coach says to us, “can you guys stop talking for one second!”

Every single season has been a step in the right direction and included many memories. To name a few: freshmen year we clinched first in our conference, which is something no one was expecting. Sophomore year we went 33-9, breaking the Suffolk Softball record for most wins in a single season. Junior year we made it to the GNAC championship where, although it did not go our way in the end, we knew we would be back the next year. So, here we are, our senior year and five very talented freshmen have joined our roster, making it sixteen of us in all. It is our last year and we want to make sure that on May 7th we are hoisting the GNAC trophy above us. 

To the underclassmen:

Thank you. Thank you for making my four years at Suffolk the most wonderful experience. The 10 of you helped make this experience at Suffolk an amazing one. I am so proud of every single one of you for showing up each and every day and having the same goal us seniors have.

To the juniors, you have one more year and let me tell you it flies by. Cherish every second and just give it your all everyday with no regrets. At the end, you won’t remember the bad games you had, you’ll remember the great wins you had with your friends and how you have those friends for life. I know you don’t think it right now, but very soon you will be sitting here writing this wondering how time went by so quickly, just like me. 

To the sophomores, thank you for your determination. Since you stepped on this field in the fall of 2016 you had one goal and that was to help us get to the championship. Sophomore year can be a tricky one because you’re not a freshmen, but you’re also not an upperclassmen, so you have to figure out where you stand. Never change, your grit and determination never goes unnoticed and I know it will take you far not only in your softball career, but in your future once you graduate.

To the freshmen, you guys remind me of our freshmen class, except you have not stopped talking since the day you got here. I am forever thankful for your motivation and determination on and off the field. All five of you give your all every day while telling the best jokes and picking us up when we need it. Thank you for that, thank you all for your kindness, intuition, determination and hard work.

To my fellow Seniors:

We are one lucky class, being able to say that we came into a program, crushed all eight  fit tests, motivated the upperclassmen, and found ourselves four years later sitting here with more than 100 wins, becoming the winningest class at Suffolk, watching Delaney get her 200th hit, to getting ready to win the GNAC tournament. We have left it all on the field and I know when it is time for us to hang up our gloves and cleats, we won’t. We will still be out on the field coaching, or all meeting up to go hit some front toss on the field to make sure we look sharp for the alumni game. One of my favorite memories with you all is freshmen year during snow days sitting in Miller making RapChats, Dubsmashes, and most importantly singing karaoke. As the years have gone on we have all had the same goal and that was to see each other be successful, while winning the GNAC. I want to thank all of you for never giving up on me when I went into a rut, we all know what the feeling is like and the six of us have never given up on each other. As we step out onto the field the next few weeks, I know every play, hit, dive, slide, and run scored will be through the determination we have had since we stepped on Popoulo field the fall of freshmen year.

To Coach, Coach Holly, Coach Taylor, and Coach Nikki:

I cannot even begin to write this piece because words cannot describe how thankful I am for every single one of you. Not a single one of you gave up on me, you only motivated me to be a better person and player. From the laughs, to the cries, to the pep talks, it has been a wild four years and I will never forget it.

Coach (Davis), you have provided the six of us an experience we will never get a chance to have again as a player. Thank you for never giving up on me, especially freshmen year when I was a nervous wreck and you still could see the potential I had. Thank you for always being there whether it was school related, family related, or softball related. You always see the best in us and always have our back no matter what. From early mornings, to late nights, you have put in so much time and effort into this program to make sure we have the best time here and you sure have succeeded. 

Coach Holly, the last two years have been incredible. Although I was not an outfielder, you still helped me when it was needed either for hitting or a simple fielding question. The countless hours you put in out of your busy day to make sure we had a nice Instagram also never goes unnoticed.

Coach Taylor, I cannot thank you enough for the help in the infield this year. We have had a great time and you always reminded me that I was a great player even if I did not feel that I was at the time. It has been an incredible year and even though sometimes the infield did not do their best, you found ways to make sure the next day at practice we knew what our mistakes were and how to fix them.

Coach Nikki, although I was not a pitcher, thank you for coming in early in the morning before your day started to ensure that the pitchers were able to get the reps and feedback they needed to make sure they were prepared for the long season we had ahead of us. Thank you for all your help because you had the utmost confidence in them and it was incredible to see.

To incoming freshmen:

This is going to be the experience of a life time, but with that always comes highs and lows. If you ever feel like you want to quit because it takes up too much of your time or you’re afraid that someone will play over you, don’t do it. I promise you not only will Suffolk Softball shape you into a fantastic player, but will also shape you into an incredible person who will have great time management as well as discipline. You will gain 16 new friends that will quickly turn into family. They will always have your back and so will the coaching staff. No one wants to see you succeed more than them and that is why it is beyond worth playing four years. 

Lastly, to Amy Barry:

Thank you for being such an incredible SID and making sure that every single game even if there were multiple sports playing in a day that the live stats or video was up and running so our family and friends can watch when they can’t make it to the game. Thank you for allowing us to have a media day so that we can have game day posts and pictures to go along with post game articles. Thank you for coming to Florida this year so that you could do live stats both from the baseball and softball games. Thank you for nominating our teammates for player of the week or hero of the week so that we have the opportunity for everyone to understand how hard working we are as athletes. Thank you for the graphics when we accomplish a milestone and finding every record throughout the NCAA and here at Suffolk that an athlete may break. Lastly, thank you for this wonderful idea to do a Ram Reflection. Your work is beyond appreciated.

Thank you, Ram Nation, I will never forget this experience.

Madison Eucalitto
Infielder #19