The CT Softball Blog

BRIDGEPORT—They grew up living only 15 minutes from each other, just a quick journey up or down I-95 from Groton to East Lyme.

In high school softball, they played each other eight times in the regular season alone over their four-year careers, so they certainly knew of each other.

It wasn’t until this year, however, that Maerin Lyon and Grace DuBrava, two freshmen on the University of Bridgeport softball team, finally got to know one another.

Needless to say, in addition to finally becoming teammates, they became fast friends.

“Honestly, Grace? She was like my long lost best friend,” said Lyon. “I didn’t know her all of high school and then all of a sudden we’re here together and I was like, Oh my God, you lived 15 minutes from me. It’s been really nice. She’s like my left hand here. I couldn’t have asked for a better teammate and friend.”

The feeling was mutual, DuBrava added.

“I could just tell how similar we are,” she said.

On a wind-swept Saturday afternoon at Seaside Park, while the UB Purple Knights were sweeping American International College in a non-league doubleheader, both players got to share a very special moment together.

A couple of them, actually.

Each player got the first collegiate hits of their career.

Lyon went 2-for-3 with a pair of base hits and two runs scored while DuBrava came off the bench as a pinch hitter and notched a single, helping to lead UB to a 4-1 win in game two of the non-conference doubleheader.

Earlier in the day, the Knights bested the Yellow Jackets by an 11-0 score.

For Lyon and DuBrava, though, it will be a day they never forget.

“It felt really, really good,” said Lyon, a Fitch product out of Groton. “I mean, I think you just have to keep going with what you’re doing and be persistent. My hitting coach has helped a lot. We kind of adjusted my swing a lot over the past few weeks after Florida. He saw what I was doing wrong and he adjusted me. So, I think just being consistent and putting in the work, and it felt really good to get that first hit.”

Late in the game, DuBrava, who played at East Lyme High School, got a pinch-hit opportunity and made the most of it, with a single.

“It’s been kind of a waiting game,” admitted DuBrava. “I had to run it out and see for a second, but it definitely felt good to see it drop. Super relieving to finally get your first hit.”

From their respective high schools and from different travel programs—Lyon with the CT Elite Bombers and DuBrava with the Run & Gun Lady Nightmares—the pair found themselves on the same road to Park Avenue in Bridgeport, and the Purple Knights’ softball team.

UB Coach Dawn Stearns put a lot on the pair early, asking them to switch positions for the good of the program.

Lyon was a career third basemen while DuBrava was a first baseman/third baseman.

Both are now outfielders.

“It’s been just an amazing adjustment that they made because they were corner infielders,” said Stearns, who is in her 17^th year at UB. “But we had a litany of (players at first and third) and I was just like, ‘Listen, I need somebody fast. I need someone that can do the job, that’s an athlete,’ and they took right to it. It was amazing.”

She has also been impressed with how the former high school rivals have become such close friends.

“They’re very dear friends and they root for each other,” Stearns said. “They’re giving each advice. It’s just the cutest thing.”

In addition to their new-found friendship, this Shoreline duo have both found the University of Bridgeport to be exactly what they wanted out of a school, as well.

“It’s been everything I’ve wanted and more,” said DuBrava. “It feels so comfortable here. I feel like our team is so close. Anywhere that you turn, you have somebody to talk to. Even if you’re going in for somebody and playing their position, nobody will cheer louder for you than them. So you definitely feel supported on the field.”

Both agreed there is still plenty to learn when it comes to playing at the collegiate level.

With their first career hits behind them, however, Grace DuBrava and Maerin Lyon can now focus on their rest of their careers and helping the UB Purple Knights to keep getting better.

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