Jessica Belley was reluctant at first. She liked coaching softball at Lebanon Middle School, liked teaching the basics to girls who — in many cases — were learning the game for the first time.
Taking the job as Hanover High’s varsity softball coach brought along with it a slew of expectations. Marauder athletic director Mike Jackson and Hanover Principal Justin Campbell thought she was, as she put it, a “shoo-in,” given her experience. Belley wasn’t so sure.
Eighteen days into spring training, she’s changed her mind.
“Taking a varsity role, I thought, would be a difficult transition for me,” Belley said by phone on Thursday after Hanover’s practice was canceled by rain. “It’s been great so far. … I’m very much in my element.”
Teaching the basics, after 10 years with the Lebanon Middle School program, is Belley’s forte. For Hanover softball, that might be just what the doctor ordered.
Although Hanover progressed under former coach Mike Landau, going 15-54 since 2011, the Marauders have struggled for longer than many in Hanover can remember. Landau guided an experienced group of seniors to a 6-13 record last year, the program’s best season since 2003. Hanover had not won more than five games in a campaign in the previous 15 years.
Numbers are a factor: Hanover has consistently struggled to have enough athletes to field a team, and Belley only has 10 girls on this year’s roster. Some of it is due to facilities; Hanover softball plays on Norwich’s Huntley Meadows, which, some say, has hindered its recruiting efforts. All of these factored in Belley’s decision to take the job.
“I don’t know if I would have gone into it as a head coach; I would have wanted to be an assistant coach and learned from it,” Belley said. “But knowing that we haven’t been rock-solid for a pretty long time, I thought it was an opportunity, for the school and the girls.”
Belley was introduced to softball as early as fourth grade while growing up in Cranford, N.J., just outside New York City. She played intramural softball at Kutztown (Pa.) University and, after college, moved to the Upper Valley with her mother to pursue a career. But softball was never far from her mind, and it didn’t take long for Belley to start coaching Lebanon’s middle-schoolers. She really fell in love with the sport at that point.
“I’ve always been a baseball and softball fan,” she said. “My love for softball has sort of grown out of my love for coaching it. As the years have gone by, I’ve grown to love the sport a lot more because I love coaching it.”
Coaching high school varsity was never in Belley’s realm of possibility until the job at Hanover opened up. In fact, much like her counterpart at Lebanon, Kassie Dunkerton, Belley was the one and only candidate to apply for the job. But as Jackson said Thursday, that didn’t make her any less qualified.
“We recruited her to take the job because of her coaching background and the fact that she works in the high school and she is so good with kids,” Jackson said in an email. “We were excited when she agreed to take the job and continue to be so as she moved the team and the sport forward.
“The difficulty that softball struggles with, in my view, is that there is not a feeder program in softball in our communities (referring to both Lebanon and Hanover),” he added, regarding the difficulty of finding softball coaches.
Belley has approached this first Hanover season as starting virtually from scratch. She approached her three captains — seniors Mackenzie Cutting, Sarah Kohl and Kirsten Tischbein — early on to discuss realistic expectations of this year’s team, noting that a foundation needed to be built in order to make Hanover softball sustainable and successful. This year is simply step one.
“It was very tough,” Belley said of approaching her seniors about her long-term goals. “But I was very honest and up-front. This is the situation. … We’ve got to start now with you guys.
“I really think they took it well,” she added. “I don’t know that they had a great experience the last couple of years. I think it’s a relief to them. They really do believe in what we’re doing. To get them to buy into what we’re doing has been very easy.”
Belley will have some shoes to fill, having lost the likes of starting pitcher Amara Nichols, catcher Ashley Elder and first baseman Delia Nahabedian to graduation. The biggest hole, in Belley’s mind, was in the pitcher’s circle, a position that Hanover has tasked to freshman Rebecca Wilson this season.
“We haven’t gotten into the nitty-gritty of pitching with her yet,” said Belley, whose team has had only one outdoor practice this preseason. “But it’s clear to me that she’s done some work. I’m definitely impressed. It’s tough to be a young pitcher, especially in their first varsity games. It can be daunting. But she’s been very committed to working hard. … She has definitely been trained in pitching before.”
Hanover’s first-year coach sees someone with plenty of potential with time to grow. For now, Hanover’s team expectations are tame. Progress will take time.
“At the first parent meeting, I sort of laid out what my expectations are,” Belley said. “I think everyone knows winning a championship is not exactly on the table. But that doesn’t mean it’s not going to be a successful year. … There’s something to be said that (the seniors) have stuck with it. If they weren’t having a fantastic time, the fact that they’re still here says something to me. They’re committed to softball, for whatever reason. I want to keep that going.
“I’m optimistic that changes are going to come to Hanover softball. I’m excited about what’s in store for us.”
Josh Weinreb can be reached at jweinreb@vnews.com or at 603-727-3306.