Madison Thoesen, a senior pitcher at Newtown High, remembers the first day she walked into the gym for “pitchers and catchers” as a wide-eyed, petrified freshman.
“My freshman year, it seems like forever ago, but I remember being terrified as a freshman, coming up,” the future Central Connecticut State University right-hander recalled on Saturday afternoon, hours after her final first-practice of her high school career. “Newtown softball had a bunch of good players, and I had to be at the top of my game. Remembering that, I really wanted to be a good influence for those younger players that we had show up today.”
Pitchers, catchers and softball coaches from around the state had circled Saturday, March 15 on the calendar as soon 2024 rolled over into 2025.
It was a day for pitchers and catchers to get a jump start on the new season, according to the CIAC’s rules and regulations. All other players will join their batterymates next Saturday for the official start of the season.
“Yeah, it’s always circled,” said Adam Laliberte, head coach of the two-time defending Class LL champions from Fairfield Ludlowe. “You ride the high of last year as long as you can—and I think I’ve watched the state final over and over again about 100 times—but you circle the date and you’re excited to get back.”
“Conditioning” week as the CIAC calls it has rules.
“The conditioning program is limited to six pitchers and four catchers in grades 9 through 12,” the CIAC’s softball regulations state.
Conditioning can be conducted “for no more than five days per athlete the week prior to the first date for softball practice.”
Those five days are handled differently by many coaching staffs.
Some jump in feet first, others push off the start of conditioning until Monday and others wait even longer.
The goal, however, is mostly the same: Shaking off some rust, stretching out some muscles, building some endurance and starting to prepare for the next three months of action.
Loren Luddy, the head coach of three-time defending Class M champion Woodland Regional, had six pitchers in the gym working with her catchers on Saturday.
Ella van Alstyne, who pitched the Hawks to their third straight title last season, is returning to lead her staff, but everybody has to get ready.
“We will do a lot of core training and flexibility, injury-prevention stuff,” Luddy said. “Then later in the week we’ll get into some pressure situations and situations when you’re tired. And we’ll get our catchers working with different pitchers, too.”
After the session, the entire Woodland Regional program held a clinch for some of the region’s youth players.
“We love it,” Luddy said. “It’s so great to have them all there and parents who are coaching these teams come, as well.”
While Luddy knows who her starter is heading into the season new season, Ludlowe lost its ace from a year ago, Alex Lewey, who has graduated and is now at Quinnipiac.
This gives Laliberte a chance to see how far some of his younger pitchers have come and will also him to put together a staff he can trust heading into the new season.
“I think for me, I approach this week similar to how I approach the start of the season when we have everybody,” he said. “You have to learn to crawl before you can walk. You have to walk before you can jog. You have to jog before you can sprint. We’re not going to get to May 19 on March 15, so you just take it gradually and make sure your reps are correct and not fast.”
Laliberte said he plans on using four of his five days, giving his pitchers and catchers an extra day off before going at it full-time again.
Jonathan Law coach Melanie Blude is starting her pitchers and catchers on Sunday, and her team will go five straight days before giving the players Friday off.
“This week is more about getting the girls together, building some endurance and looking at spins,” Blude said.
While many top-level pitchers in the state throw multiple times a week via lessons and private sessions, the softball season in Connecticut can quickly erode via weather to the point where a team could have four games in a single week.
“They’ll do travel practices a couple of times a week, but it’s nothing like the high school season,” Blude said. “Arms can get tired.”
In Coventry, the Class S champion Patriots, won’t start their pitchers-and-catchers prep until Friday.
“We have two pitchers and one catcher, and they have all been playing in winter leagues and travel ball right up through the weekend,” Coventry Coach Jeff LaHouse said. “We can get through what we want in one day.”
No matter what a coach’s plan is heading into the week, though, just know arms are getting loose, catchers are getting bruises and the official all-out start to the high school softball season is just seven days away.
“The biggest thing for me is you turn the page on last season,” Laliberte said. “I’ll say it again when we get the whole team together. We’d be doing a disservice to ourselves trying to compare us to these teams that last two years. They’ll make their own path, and we’ll grow.”
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