Coach Rick Torresani calls Cari Anderson a ‘throwback player.’
The North Penn softball coach went on to recount watching his catcher in a travel team game last fall.
“She was going after a foul fly ball and didn’t realize the fence was that close – she ran into the fence face first,” Torresani recalled.
The injuries sustained in that collision prevented Anderson from playing the following day.
“The greatest thing about Cari – the next day, even though she’s in pain, she went to the game to cheer her teammates on,” Torresani said. “That’s the kind of player she is.”
Anderson is one a group of North Penn athletes who signed their names on a letter of intent last fall. The Maiden senior has accepted a scholarship to play softball at Iona College.
“I picked Iona because I really like the coaches and the whole team,” she said. ”It’s a new program with new coaches. It looks like a good opportunity. I also love the campus.”
Anderson, who plans to major in chemistry, also considered California University of Pennsylvania as well as several other state schools, but Iona was a clear favorite from the start.
“I really don’t know how to express my feelings because it’s so exciting,” she said of receiving a scholarship. “It’s kind of overwhelming in a way.”
The senior catcher has lived with the dream of one day playing collegiate softball since the end of her sophomore year.
“I saw other teammates of mine go on to play college softball,” Anderson said. “It really sparked my interest.
“I looked around, and I found schools that I liked that had good softball programs, so I went with it.”
Anderson, a standout defensive catcher, called the signals behind the plate and was a steadying influence for freshman hurler Kellianna Bradstreet last spring.
“She’s small, but she blocks pitches better than any catcher we have had for a long time,” Torresani said. “She’s very coachable, very smart.
“She handled a freshman pitcher last year that took us all the way to the Pennsbury game (in the first round of districts). When she’s on the field, it’s win at all cost. She hates to lose.”
This spring Anderson will serve as captain of the Maidens’ softball squad.
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