One of the two seniors on the highly-ranked softball team at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Andover native Jacquelyne DiTroia has played a major role in the program’s turnaround. The Engineers finished 11-23 her freshman year. The next following season, under the direction of first-year coach Whitney Goldstein, a former standout at Salem (N.H.) High and the University of Massachusetts, the Engineers ripped off a 30-14 mark. The Engineers were 34-11 a year ago, making an appearance in the the NCAA Division 3 tournament. Last weekend, WPI beat Babson (4-0) and MIT (4-1) in the winners’ bracket of the NEWMAC tournament and will carry a 34-6 record into Saturday’s championship game. The Brooks School grad has started all but a handful of games at second base during her career and all but one this season. A biomedical engineering major, she’s one of four WPI captains. Junior catcher Lindsay Gurska of Revere is another.
Q. You certainly have been part of major turnaround for the program.
A. Freshman year we didn’t win as many games as we wanted and Coach Goldstein came in and it’s really been a 180 and she’s totally turned the program around. Sophomore year, we had never put so much time into lifting and getting in shape and it really paid off. We had the program’s most wins and last year we beat our own record. We did awesome and went to the NCAA Super Regionals which we had never been to before. We’ve watched it grow from year to year. (Newton’s) Clare Doolin and I are the only two seniors and now we look at each other and say it’s crazy and we can’t believe how far we’ve come. Right now we’re No. 1 in New England and that’s a huge accomplishment and we’re proud that all the hard work has paid off.
Q. Congratulations on your first career home run.
A. I’m definitely more of a contact hitter. I try to hit the ball hard and put it in play on the ground some place and I like to bunt. I play more small ball. Against Wellesley (April 16), I had a 0-2 count and I was thinking of a more defensive swing and she threw me a changeup. It kind of hung over the middle and I crushed it. I’d hit them in practice before but this was totally different. Our assistant coach, Casey Wall, said she knew it was out right away and saw my smile as I was rounding first base. She told me, ‘Seeing smiles like that is the reason I coach.’
Q. Do you have role models?
A. Freshman year I looked up to the seniors so much. WPI softball has taught me a lot, not just about athletics but about who I am as a person. Coach Goldstein has taught me so much about the game of softball but also about how it all fits into real life and how to be a well-rounded person. There are lots of engineers at WPI and we have a vigorous schedule and the coaches help us set our priorities, show us how to balance our schedules and do time management. All the older girls were such good role models and we’ve followed them they as they graduate and have success in jobs. Hopefully I’ll be like them some day and be happy with a career.
Q. What do you plan to do after graduation?
A. It’s kind of crazy. I never want to leave college, I’m having so much fun. But I accepted a fulltime job offer around Thanksgiving at Smith & Nephew [Endoscopy] in Mansfield. They make medical devices and I’m real excited about it. I have a job and it’s not just any job, it’s my dream job. I start June 6.
Q. Any secret talents?
A. I really like playing the violin and the guitar. My dad’s job moved us over to England for two years when I was really young and from there we went to Ireland and that’s where I picked up my musical interests. I started playing the tin whistle at about six and then the violin. And I did horseback riding. I took violin lessons until senior year of high school. I definitely like Irish music and I also like classical and Mozart, too. I don’t think anybody would really guess about the violin. Everyone at school knows me as a softball player.
Q. Do you have other musical interests?
A. We do some karaoke as a team. We have a karaoke machine and we’ll go to someone’s apartment and do karaoke. We’re really not bad. On the way back on some bus rides we’ll have music on the bus and coach will get on the mic and start singing. We’re a real tight-knit team and we like to have fun together. Coach definitely participates. She’s a blast.
ALLEN LESSELS
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