The NCAA National Letter of Intent early signing period ran from November 13 to Nov. 20 and several Hockomock League players took advantage to officially announce their college choices. Two of those players are teammates on the North Attleboro girls’ softball team.
2013 HockomockSports.com Hock 5 selections, Meg Colleran and Marissa Gifford were honored by the school with a ceremony in the office of Athletic Director Kurt Kummer last Friday afternoon. According to head coach Bill Wallace, this is the first time that two Rocketeers have signed Letters of Intent in the same season.
Colleran, the starting pitcher, will be attending the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Gifford, the starting second baseman, will be playing for Assumption College next year.
The recruiting process was a whirlwind for Colleran, who remarked that she has been attending camps across the country for the past three years. She was recruited at UMass by head coach Elaine Sortino, who passed away this summer, but Colleran did not waver in her commitment to the Minutemen.
“I’ve been kind of looking at that school since I was in eighth grade; that was the first time that I went to camp,” she explained. “I absolutely loved her as a coach and she taught me so much. I loved the school and I loved the team, so I just knew that it was the one.”
She added, “I went all over the country traveling to different schools and doing camps for a good three years and then I ended up going an hour and a half away from home.”
Although Colleran plays nearly year-round, she credited Wallace and the North program for helping her get to the Division I level. She said, “He was always willing to put in extra time after practice. He really helped me out a lot; I wouldn’t be where I am today without him.”
Gifford had a different approach to the recruiting process to play at Division II Asumption. The second baseman and No. 2 hitter reached out to the coaching staff and said that she was sending emails to keep them updated. As with Colleran's decision to attend UMass, there was more to Gifford's choice of school than just the softball team.
"I fell in love with the school," she expalined. "I love the campus and they have the program that I wanted (Occupational Therapy), which not a lot of schools did. All-around, it's a good school."
About the signing ceremony and the end of the recruiting process, Gifford added, "It's really exciting and i'm glad that it's over. It was fun, but it's a long road."
The North Attleboro softball program has grown into one of the best in the Hockomock League and has expectations of challenging for a league title and making an impact in the state tournament. Having two players from the team getting ready to play college ball is further proof of its development.
Gifford noted, "We all work together and we're always trying to improve each other. I think that's why it's getting better."
“We’ve had quite a few players that have played Division III and our catcher from last year, Meg Wynn, is playing at the University of Hartford, but I think it’s definitely improving,” said Colleran. “It’s nice to see softball becoming a bigger part of the town.”
In addition to the two Rocketeers, Canton senior baseball player Sam Larson also signed his National Letter of Intent this week to play for the University of Rhode Island.
Josh Perry can be contacted at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @Josh_Perry10.