With most of its crew returning, Telstar should remain a formidable foe in the MVC.
Slowly but surely they’ve been on a steady climb the last few seasons, but this spring, the Telstar softball team is ready for a giant leap.

“We kind of enjoyed the moment last year,” said coach Jim Lunney. “We came in last year thinking we could be competitive. We thought we were going to be better. This year, the potential is probably higher.”

The Rebels certainly were competitive and most definitely improved. Telstar went 12-2 and won the MVC title for the first time. With just about everyone back this year, the sky is the limit.

“We’re definitely a team to pay attention to and a force to be reckoned with, but don’t tell anybody; we don’t want people to know,” said senior first baseman Meagan Lunney.

That secret might be already be out. With four veteran seniors and a group of talented sophomores, just about everyone is aware of the potential of this club.

“After going to Augusta with the basketball team, now we want to go all the way in softball,” said senior Krystle Gould, a member of the hoop team that reached the quarterfinals for the first time ever.

Those seniors are joined by Ashley Stambolis and Santana Wilson, both outfielders. Add in a strong sophomore group in catcher Liz Rosenberg, second baseman Tiffany Jordan, shortstop/pitchers Jessie Farrington and Jillian Kimball, outfielder Kayla Mills and utility player Chelsea Cozzolino, and Telstar has the makings of a seasoned and talented group.

“We have a lot of the players that are the same,” said Stambolis. “So there’s a lot of consistency going for us.”

The Rebels have also learned a few things in a year’s time. After last year’s regular season earned them the top seed in Western C, the Rebels were knocked off in the quarterfinals by Monmouth.

“I think it was a wake-up call,” said Wilson. “We have to work just as hard as anyone else. We have a lot of talented athletes, but that doesn’t matter. We have to work together.”

So the Rebels are optimistic but also leery about being overconfident. Lunney, last year’s MVC Coach of the Year, has stressed that his team has to work hard every time out and keep building for the playoffs.

“We know we’re not going to go out every night and win,” said Stambolis. “We have to go out and work for the win. We have to work on the little things to win games.”

Telstar hopes to begin that process today as it leaves town for North Carolina. They’ll play five games and have practice time in the South. The Rebels hope it can be the start of good things to come.

“We’re all excited,” said Wilson. “We’re going to have a blast, and it’s going to be a good experience for us.”

“Our softball team is so close,” said Gould. “It’s going to be a great bonding experience.”

Upon return to the MVC, Lunney says his squad can’t expect to have the same results as last year. He says the team won games last year it shouldn’t have and lost a pair it could have won.

“We’ve got to play every game hard,” he said. “We could have a better team and not have a better record because we might not get the breaks this time but come playoff time, at crunch time, I think we’ll be more mature.”