The CT Softball Blog

NEW MILFORD—When Cienna McNamara steps between the baselines of any softball field she is playing on, she is as confident a player as you will find.

She knows she has put the work in, and she trusts the process.

When it comes to selling herself as a top player, however, that’s a different story. McNamara is much more a “we” player than a “me” player and she would much rather let her play do the speaking for her.

Alas, that’s not the recruiting world in 2025.

“For me, when it was time to go camps and stuff, I kind of wasn’t the person to go a lot,” she said. “I didn’t really branch out, per se. All my teammates would tell me ‘Just e-mail your dream school.’”

One day, undoubtedly with some nervous trepidation, McNamara clicked send on that email to her dream school and it started a journey that found the New Milford High School All-State shortstop verbally committing to the University of North Carolina at the start of her junior year.

“UNC was one of my dream schools,” McNamara said. “I ended up going to one of their camps and that’s kind of when it started to be like, oh my God, I could play here. I love this school. I love the coaches there. So, I went back again.”

Soon enough the UNC coaches were coming to watch her play, as well, at tournaments around the country.

It was a dream ending for the kid who didn’t want to toot her own horn.

“I know it’s not showboating,” McNamara said. “I feel like in every sport I play, I’m not a flashy person. So I wasn’t that person that was like, ‘Ok, let me e-mail these schools and all that stuff.’ It wasn’t in me. I had confidence in myself, I knew my capabilities, but I just wasn’t that person.”

Once the Tar Heels saw her play do the talking, however, McNamara got her offer, and she accepted.

“She’s a fantastic player,” New Milford head coach Robert Farmer said. “She’s a good human being, you know what I mean? Humble, not cocky with her gifts. She is a wonderful young lady, and she represents herself, her family, New Milford High School, the whole town of New Milford, so well.”

McNamara grew up playing every sport she could, and she remains a three-sport athlete to this day.

This fall, she is once again starring as a field hockey standout for the Green Wave field hockey team, where a year ago she led the SWC in goals scored.

This winter, she’ll be back in the basketball gym.

And, of course, come spring she’ll step between the baselines and let her game do her talking for her once again.

“When I was younger, obviously I come from a sports background,” McNamara said. “My mom played softball in college. My dad played every single sport. I did every sport growing up. I even did ballet. As I got older, though, I kind of narrowed it down the sports I kind of liked and that was field hockey, basketball and softball.”

Softball, however, proved to be special.

She played her first out-of-state tournament when she was just 6 years old, played in the Babe Ruth Softball World Series at age 7, and by the time she was 9 she was selected as a member of the USSSA All-American Northeast squad that won a national title.

“I feel like softball is just different,” she said. “I love the game. I have so much passion for it. I love watching it. I just knew it was the game I wanted to play at a higher level, at the collegiate level. That’s always been a dream of mine.”

When she first started playing, her mom was the coach.

Both coach and player, however, knew something was missing—a bigger challenge.

“I played with older girls. I was still dominating,” McNamara said. “So my mom was like, I’m sorry, but we have to go somewhere else. If you want to keep playing and you want to keep competing, it won’t be here.”

She joined the CT Wildcats and would later play for the CT Impact and CT Lightning, as well.

By the time she was an eighth grader, though, McNamara signed on with the Empire State Huskies and found the connection and the challenge she was seeking.

“I love the organization,” McNamara said. “I mean the structure at practices, the tournaments that we compete in, just everything. It’s definitely something that has shaped me and molded me. They want what’s best for you and it’s going to be tough love, but I’ve competed against the best, I’ve played the best of the best and competed in all these great tournaments, and I wouldn’t be here today without what I’ve done at the Huskies and how it’s shaped me as a player.”

Even her mom, Michelle McNamara, has been amazed to watch her daughter’s growth process, as a player.

“Her relentless pursuit to become the best athlete to ever walk out of New Milford High School isn’t just a goal. It’s her mission,” said Michelle McNamara, who played at Western Connecticut State University and once coached at Marist College and Brookfield High. “She has chased her dream to get to UNC, and once she is physically there and on campus, the sky is the limit. I can’t wait to watch her pour every ounce of who she is into this next chapter.”

Cienna McNamara might not be comfortable bragging about her athletic exploits, but she doesn’t have to.

As long as she lets her game do the talking, those who watch her play will have all their questions answered, from New Milford to Chapel Hill.

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