Greenwich High softball team aiming to end the season in successful fashion

By David Fierro on May 5, 2026 • ( Leave a comment )

**Photo by David Fierro:** From left to right, Hannah Winig, Hayden Zinker, Sydney Coyne and Jesse Natale are captains of the Greenwich High School varsity softball team.

The season began with three consecutive victories for Greenwich High School’s varsity softball team, then came a gauntlet of games for the Cardinals against some of the premier teams in the FCIAC and state.

Greenwich faced formidable foes such as Wilton, Fairfield Ludlowe, St. Joseph, Staples and Trumbull and held its own in almost every game against those squads. The Cardinals hit the ball well 17-12 and 10-7 losses to Staples and Wilton, respectively, but had difficulty holding St. Joseph and Trumbull’s offense at bay in recent matchups.

Trumbull showed its offensive power in posting a 15-0 win over host Greenwich on May 1, now the Cardinals, who are 4-10 on the season are hoping to finish the regular season strong and win enough games to qualify for the CIAC Class LL Tournament.

“I think we had a really good start, especially on April break, I think we came out hot,” said Greenwich junior shortstop Jesse Natale, one of the team’s captains, who has helped anchor the Cards’ infield. “We’re improving from last year, we’re having better games than last year. I still think we have a big shot at firing back and winning a couple more games.”

**Photo by David Fierro:** Haley Dreher of Greenwich High School’s varsity softball team at the plate vs. visiting Trumbull.

Greenwich’s three straight wins at the beginning came against Lauralton Hall, a 4-1 victory, Brien McMahon (a 9-4 win) and Westhill (a 7-5 triumph). The Cardinals, who play McMahon and Westhill again soon, have done a solid job defensively in the majority of their games.

“Our defense has definitely improved tremendously, we work a lot on it at practice,” said GHS junior Hayden Zinker, who plays first base. “I think our defense has been very tight this year.”

The Cards followed their loss against Trumbull with a tight 4-0 defeat at Darien, then fell to Danbury today (May 5th), 12-1, at home. Greenwich visits Stamford on Friday, then visits Stamford on Monday (May 11th).

Photo by David Fierro: Leonor Perez of Greenwich swings the bat during a recent home game against Trumbull.

Junior right-hander/captain Hannah Winig is the Cardinals’ pitcher. She’s relied upon heavily each game and is certainly coming into her own on the mound.

“It’s been hard, because I’m the only pitcher on the team, so it’s a lot of pressure, especially if I’m having an off day,” Wining said. “It’s not always the easiest, but it’s really nice having my team back me up.”

“She has some experience, but it’s tough when you only have one pitcher – our backup pitcher is hurt,” GHS coach Mary Beth Fratello noted. She’s going to be carrying the load for a while.”

Photo by David Fierro: The Cardinals’ varsity softball team recently hosted Trumbull High School in an FCIAC matchup.

Against visiting Trumbull, which sports a sensational 12-1 record so far this season, Natale hit a double, catcher Haley Dreher singled twice, Winig had a base hit and Ellie Rockel and Leonor Perez had a single apiece for the Cardinals.

The Eagles of Trumbull were powered by several hitters at the top and middle of their lineup. Kylie Lucia went 4 for 5 with three doubles and a home run to lead Trumbull versus Greenwich. Pitcher Madison Pippa was 3 for 5 with a homer and also pitched a strong seven innings for the win.

Brianna Potak also had three hits in the winning effort.

“Trumbull is a great team, we know they always have a great team,” Zinker said. ” They have a great pitcher and a great offense. Definitely there were some errors in the first few innings that need to be errors, but unfortunately, they were. I think we’re going to work on that.”

**Picture by David Fierro:** Greenwich High School junior pitcher Hannah Winig delivers to the plate against Trumbull.

Coyne, a junior captain, patrols centerfield, a position she excels at, for the Cards. She’s also the cleanup hitter.

“We have a good lineup, a solid lineup,” Coyne said. “The first four people get a lot of hits and the people at the end of the lineup, get on base. This year, we made more contact and our lineup has been stronger.”

“The key for us is strong defense and just got a bat on it,” Coyne added. “We need to just think about making contact and for us, hitting in the gaps and playing tough defense is what’s going to win the game.”

Picture by David Fierro: Hannah Winig, Greenwich High’s starting pitcher, on the mound against Trumbull High School.

Fratello likes the effort she’s seen from her squad, which compete in one of the most competitive conferences in the state.

“We had four wins in the beginning of the season and then we came into the tough part of our season, between Ludlowe, Wilton, Trumbull – they’re good teams, quality teams, but we’ve been battling every game,” Fratello noted. “We played Wilton, it was 10-7, Staples was 17-12.”

Greenwich’s Haley Dreher behind the plate during a home game against Trumbull. The visiting Eagles were victorious.

“We just have to keep pushing and playing hard in practice,” Natale noted. “We have a lot of fight in us. I think our biggest goal right now is making states. We just have to keep practicing and working.”

“It’s really important that we’re all working together and there’s not one person carrying the team,” said Winig, who appreciates her role as the Cardinals’ pitcher.

“It’s exciting, the first couple of games I was throwing pretty well,” she said. “The last couple I got in my head a little bit, but I’m going to keep working to try to do better.”