Softball players like Ali Reilly don’t come around every day.
Reilly in action for the CT Angels travel team. (Greg Reilly photo)
An All-FCIAC standout pitcher in 2013, Reilly was a vital piece of the puzzle last season for New Canaan High as the Lady Rams won the first FCIAC championship in school history. Splitting time with Cydney Ventura in the circle, Reilly went 9-4 with a 2.94 ERA, striking out 121 batters in 90 innings. Her 5-hit shutout win over Fairifield Ludlowe in the semifinal game of the tournament will go down as one of the greatest pitching performances in New Canaan softball history.
“Ali is a great kid, a great leader and a true workhorse,” said New Canaan head coach Danielle Simoneau. “She does everything to the best of her ability and always gives 150-percent. Ali rises to the occasion. She’s someone who always comes out on top.”
With all that said, it might come as a surprise to hear that Reilly was unsure of whether or not her senior season at NCHS would be her last playing softball. Until recently, NCAA softball players from New Canaan were a rarity. And despite the abundance of talent on the 2013 squad, not one of the outgoing seniors went on to play collegiate softball. For Reilly, the question of whether or not to continue to play weighed heavily on her mind.
“My mindset from the middle of my junior year was to keep my options open,” Reilly said. “I wasn’t totally set on playing but I wanted to see where it would take me.”
“She was toying with it,” said New Canaan head coach Danielle Simoneau. “I told her to let it come if it comes naturally, and when she knows, she’ll know.”
One of the motivational factors for Reilly–an honors student at NCHS–to test the waters of the recruiting process was to see if her substantial athletic talent could couple with her academic success to give her an opportunity at a top-flight college.
“I knew I wanted to go to a more academically challenging school,” Reilly told NewCanaanite.com. “I figured softball could help me with that.”
- (Terry Dinan photo)
So out went the recruiting packet and video to more than 60 schools. And as the interest from several schools grew as Reilly competed during the summer tournament season, so did her interest in playing college softball. Ultimately, Reilly settled on Babson College.
“It’s a good school–primarily a business school–and I knew that was something that I wanted to study,” Reilly said. “It’s all coming together and my hard work is paying off. I’m looking forward to another four years of getting to play.”
As Ali Reilly casts an eye toward the future, something she will always hold onto is the magic of 2013.
- FCIAC Champions. (Steve Rogers photo)
“It’s something I’m never going to forget,” Reilly told NewCanaanite.com. “We played together for the longest time…since I was in fourth grade with the same group of girls. It was just an unforgettable experience. It was the best.”