Scituate softball players celebrate a dramatic May 4 victory over Tolman, the team they eventually beat for the Division III championship.

Journal photo / Kris Craig

“We all just have to hang in there long enough.”

Those were Jean Angell’s words 12 years ago. The Scituate athletic director was serving as the Spartans’ softball coach at the time, overseeing a program that was in just its fourth year of playing fast-pitch. The team secured only two wins that season and failed to make the playoffs, but it marked the end of a 2 1/2-year drought. The middle-school softball program was starting to pick up, Angell remarked at the time. Players were starting to attend clinics and the town had just established a developmental league.

“We’re going to start to see the benefits,” Angell said on that May afternoon in 1997.

Fast forward to this season. After finishing 16-2 during the regular season, Scituate –– now coached by Norm Ramos –– captured the Division III championship, sweeping defending champion Tolman in the best-of-three finals. It marked the Spartans’ first softball title in either fast-pitch or slow-pitch.

What the team accomplished this season, Angell said last week, demonstrates what can happen when a community embraces a sport and a group of young people make a commitment to themselves and to each other to be the best that they can be.

“It has taken a long time, but finally, we have the commitment from the athletes, parents and coaches to make this a sport that they play year-round,” she said. “The recreation program and the middle school team are getting stronger, and there is a core group of people really behind fast-pitch softball now. This group has the softball players that we have been looking for. They had the fundamentals, they knew the strategies of the game, and they played good softball. The pitching has really developed and we have pitchers coming up through the ranks. It was fun to watch this team play.”

Stellar college career

Eliza Bryant, a three-sport star (soccer, volleyball and basketball) at East Greenwich High from 2001 to 2005, recently put the finishing touches on a stellar rowing career at Smith College.

A tri-captain in her final season, she helped guide the crew team to the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Rowing Championship on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester and an appearance at the NCAA Division III Championships, held last month at Cooper River Park in Cherry Hill, N.J., where her boat finished seventh.

Bryant, who was selected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in government, was named Smith College’s Senior Scholar Athlete, as well as the NCAA Woman of the Year, an honor given for excellence in athletics, academics and leadership/community service.

She will begin working in August at City on a Hill, as part of the Boston public school’s year-long tutoring program.

Haberek recuperating

A “little thing” like open heart surgery wasn’t enough to keep Bill Haberek down for long. The Chariho boys track coach, who underwent a successful triple coronary bypass in late April, may have missed seeing his Chargers capture their first Southern Division dual-meet title in recent memory, and then the Southern Divisional Championships. But with his wife, Lynn, serving as his chauffeur, Haberek was on hand to see Chariho compete at the Class B Championships, at the Hendricken Invitational and then at the Outdoor State Championships.

“I have bounced back well and have resumed coaching duties,” he wrote in an e-mail. “I would like to thank all of the people in the running community for their prayers, cards and well wishes. I was overwhelmed by the response.”

Run for scholarships a success

The second annual Marissa A. Lorea Memorial Run and Soccer Game, held last month at Lincoln High School, was an “amazing” success, reports event coordinator Alyssa Brennan.

“We had 700 people turn out, raising $15,794, which was exactly $700 more than last year,” said Brennan, a junior at Lincoln, who spearheaded this event in memory of her good friend Marissa Lorea, who was killed in a car accident in October 2007.

The proceeds helped make it possible for scholarships to be awarded in Lorea’s memory to Lincoln High graduates Alexandra Marcello, Katie Durvin and Adriana Ferreria.

Pictures from this year’s run can be found at http://www.marissasrun.com

Get the training edge

If you are a high school athlete trying to gain a training edge, if you would like to find an activity that the whole family can try or if you’re just looking for something different to do this summer, a series of free Family Field and Track Nights will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday and Sunday nights from June 17 through Aug. 29 at the Cranston West track.

People of all ages and abilities are welcome, says Tom Petranoff, youth chairman for the New England chapter of USA Track & Field.

“Past Olympians and local USATF club coaches and athletes will introduce you to the throws, jumps and sprints events in a fun, safe, learn-by-doing program,” he said. “We have many fun events that will test your skills and help you get in shape for all athletics events. The plan is to better yourself in all events and learn how to cross train and train your weak side for better balance and to prevent injuries.”

“Fun core” stations will include: Medball Stations, Turbo stairs drills, Turbo tire training, Turbo Speed drills, Turbo plyometrics jump, Turboflex drills and Turbo racing.

“Fun events” planned for each night include: fastest baseball arm throw, farthest Turbojav throw, longest football throw, Turboshot put, Turbodiscus toss, fastest legs football 40, backward sprint, one-lap marathon, longest Turbo jump, highest vertical jump.

For more info, contact Petranoff via e-mail at turbojav@aol.com, or by phone at (401) 440-0878.

cthorn@projo.com