By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

Neko Ustaris is a three sport (field hockey, basketball and softball) athlete for Ashland and luckily for her coaches she has just finished her freshman year and will be around for another three campaigns for all three Clocker teams. While softball is her favorite sport, basketball is a close second. The Ashland athlete finds softball to be more of a calming sport, but one in which you need to continually focus. 

As a youth she began playing first base at the coach's request, but over time she found that she wasn’t growing as fast as the other girls and soon found herself to be too short to play the position. Ustaris found that she enjoyed playing shortstop and centerfield in addition to her always being a part-time pitcher. 

“In middle school I was originally moved to short because there were girls who were taller than I was and the coach had them play first-base,” the freshman said. “I was playing centerfield because of my speed and range and found that it was a really fun position with a lot of action. It was also a position (point guard) that translated to my position on the basketball court.”

As an eighth grader Ustaris tried out for the high school team and along with three other friends made the junior varsity squad. 

“It was very intimidating at first being a middle schooler playing on a high school team with a lot of older girls,” Ustaris said. “Not only that but we had to take a bus to the high school for practice and the first time walking onto the field was overwhelming.”

As an eighth grader playing on the JV team, Ustaris found herself playing shortstop, centerfield and pitcher. Having always been a pitcher growing up, it was the JV team that started to rely on her arm more than usual.

“I didn’t mind it, in fact I enjoy having the ball in my hand and being the one that is in control of the flow of the game,” she said. 

Having gone through the season playing for the JV squad Ustaris was more than willing and excited this year to try out for the varsity team as a freshman. She went into the tryouts with the utmost of confidence and would have been highly disappointed if she didn’t earn a spot on the team.

“I knew there was little to no pitchers and that was a role that I could fill,” Ustaris said. “I also played other positions so that gave me an advantage and I was a good batter.”

Ustaris started the season as the team’s number 2 pitcher but with work on her speed she soon found herself jumping into that number one role, while still playing shortstop when not in the circle.

Coming into the season Ashland Softball Coach Matt Matsen was aware of the incoming freshman’s capabilities, but just didn’t realize that she’d take off the way she did on the varsity level. 

“Having played on the JV last year I knew of her but didn’t know what we were going to get from her. Even as a pitcher I was unsure of what she would be able to do on the varsity level, but thankfully it translated quite well,” the Clocker Coach said. “In the field, I believe that shortstop is one of the harder positions to play and her skill out there bodes well for the future of the team.”

The first-year varsity player finished the season as the Clocker’s number two batter with a .435 average at the plate, where she recorded a .493 on base percentage and a .661 slugging percentage as the team’s lead-off hitter. Ustaris would record 27 hits that included two doubles, three triples, two homeruns with seven RBI and 27 runs scored. She also led the team with 20 stolen bases and was only caught once. Ustaris was also named to the Tri-Valley league All Star team this past season.

In the early part of the season the freshman threw a no-hitter and she believes that was the turning point in the season.

“Going into the season I wasn’t really thinking too much about pitching, but since throwing that no-hitter my confidence soared – it was a breakout game,” she said. “I really had no idea that I was working on a no-hitter, so I was surprised to learn that I threw one; to me it was just another regular day.”

Ustaris first was notified of the accomplishment when she was awarded the game ball and congratulated on the no-hitter. She said she was totally taken by surprise to record such an accomplished feat, something that is hard to come by, especially by a freshman.

Now that the high school season is over, Ustaris will go back to playing for her AAU team, the Blackstone Valley Venom, where she’ll continue to play all three positions while improving her game. During the summer she is hoping to not only get stronger but wants to increase her pitching speed. At the plate she considers herself a consistent contact hitter that can create some occasional power. 

As an athlete that will be entering her sophomore campaign next spring, Matsen is ecstatic that he has Ustaris for another three seasons on the field. Ustaris on the other hand is already eyeing collegiate play and believes that she has the ability to play on the college level. While this is a goal of hers, she knows that being so young she is in a wait and see situation so for the time being she will continue to play for the Venom as well as the Clockers for the next three years while improving her skill set on the field.