TRUMBULL—When her father passed away in the fall of 2023, Trumbull High senior first baseman Maren Jones decided she was done with the sport of softball.
After all, how could she ever go play the game again without the man who made her everything she had become? How could she step between those baselines without her number one fan?
“Losing him actually killed me,” said Jones. “I didn’t want to play softball anymore. I was done.”
This spring, Jones will once again be playing for the Eagles, firmly planting her foot on that first base bag and stretching her way to the future—both this season, where the Eagles have lofty goals, and beyond.
The loss of her father has forever left a hole inside her. Yet, in hindsight, the experience of her loss also shaped her future.
Over the years in which Todd Jones was ill, struggling through a pair of liver transplants that simply wouldn’t take, Maren found herself overwhelmed and impressed by those who helped care for her father.
So, after graduating from Trumbull this spring, Maren Jones will play softball at Albertus Magnus College, where she plans on becoming a nurse.
“Honestly, I wasn’t really sure where I wanted to go,” she said. “I didn’t know if I wanted to stay close. I didn’t know if I wanted to go far. I honestly was just looking for a school that had nursing. That’s been my passion since I was young. Watching the nurses that took care of my father when he was really ill, and taking care of the family, as well, I was like I want to be a nurse.”
She also decided not to give up the sport. Instead, she would keep playing as a way to honor her father.
After starting for the Eagles as a freshman, and losing her dad before her sophomore season, former Trumbull coach Jacqui Sheftz had many heart-to-heart discussions with Maren about her loss, about the game, about her future.
“Big shout out to Coach Sheftz,” said Maren. “She helped me to relearn how to tie my cleats again and get back out on the field. She helped me get through that. I realized I really want this, I wanted to be there. I wanted to show my dad who I’ve become.”
Todd Jones was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and grew up playing ice hockey. He had both the athleticism, talent and work ethic to reach the highly talented Ontario Hockey League, a Major Junior organization that is highest level of junior hockey in Canada.
Injuries would end his on-ice career, but Jones would continue to be an athlete, playing college football and some fast-pitch softball, as well.
A career in teaching, however, would bring him to the states, and allow him to meet his future wife, Stephanie. Together, they would have three children—Logan, Maren and Tatum.
“My mom played softball in college, but I really clicked with my dad,” said Maren. “He was my rock. I used to be a pitcher, and he taught me how to pitch, all the basic skills. I’d go in the yard and pitch with him. Hey dad, want to have a catch? I still have the text messages he would send me before games my freshman year.”
Todd Jones’ spirit animal was a butterfly, Maren Jones added.
“Every time I step on a field, there seems to be a butterfly that lands somewhere on the field,” she said. “So, I just leave it all out on the field and I know my dad is proud of me.”
She can never get her father back, but Maren knows she can help others who might be going through the same dark days her family did.
As she looked closer at Albertus Magnus, both the softball team and the nursing program, she knew it would be a perfect fit.
“Even before I thought about the softball side of it, I looked at the Albertus Magnus nursing program,” she said. “They just re-did it and now it’s all state-of-the-art, so I just fell in love with it.”
Albertus Magnus coach Lou Bunosso was coaching at Fairfield Ludlowe during Jones’ freshman year at Trumbull, so he was quite familiar with the hard-hitting lefty.
“Coach Lou reached out to me when he could and he was like, ‘I want you to play here,’” Jones said. “And I already fell in love with that school with the nursing program, and I thought it’d be a great fit for me. It’s close to home so my mom and my family could still come and watch.”
Her teammates admit Jones is a great candidate to become a special kind of nurse who can have an impact.
“I honestly think Maren’s definitely the type of teammate that would do that,” said senior pitcher Madison Pippa. “She’s always there for us whenever we need her, and she’s always supportive, even if we’re not hurt or anything. I think she’s just one of those types of people that you can go up to and talk to after you’ve had a hard time or even when you’re hurt and stuff.”
Before her senior season, though, there would be one more pretty big life change that Jones would have to deal with before her high school career ended.
Sheftz, the woman whose sage wisdom, advice and counsel kept Maren Jones on the field, stepped down as the Eagles coach.
The Eagle seniors would have to play for somebody new for their final season.
When Tom Pia got the job, Maren Jones could only smile and think of her dad.
Pia, the longtime former head coach at Westhill High in Stamford, spent many years with Todd Jones as his assistant coach in the Vikings program.
“I remember Todd would bring her to practices and she’d be running around,” Pia said. “I’m looking forward to getting a chance to coach her instead of coaching against her.”
Maren Jones knows her father would love knowing she is being coached by Pia.
“I think he would laugh,” Maren said of her dad’s reaction. “I remember going there, being with my dad and (the Westhill) girls, watching Coach Pia. Just random blips. But I feel comfortable knowing he’s the new coach because I know his potential.”
Life will never come full circle, not without her dad sitting on the sidelines rooting her on or heading out in the backyard to play some catch again.
But in loss his daughter Maren has found a purpose, a reason to play again and more importantly a future where she wants to help people.
And, in a few more weeks, when the snow melts away and the Eagles take the field, Maren Jones can’t wait to see that butterfly fluttering through the air and landing on the field that has always felt like home.
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