Diman softball trying to take that next step

For Diman softball coach Cathie Noversa, the three-game losing skid isn't alarming.

It comes with the territory.

Regular participants in the MIAA state tournament, the Bengals have recently been beefing up their non-league schedule in an attempt to make some postseason noise instead of just being happy to be there.

With 10 wins already in the books this season and another tourney berth secured, the Bengals have hit a rough patch recently, dropping three straight games, including an 11-9 decision to Old Rochester in eight innings on Friday.

Although Noversa would certainly exchange those recent L's for W's, she's happy her Mayflower Athletic Conference Bengals are going up against teams that will better prepare her team for the playoffs.

"When I first started coaching here, I knew we would have to start playing a more competitive schedule to get us ready for the tournament," said Noversa. "We've been doing that lately. We play Greater New Bedford Voke, Fairhaven, West Bridgewater, Old Rochester. I didn't want to play teams that never make the tournament. That's useless. You want to be challenged."

Diman has certainly been challenged lately, falling to West Bridgewater, Fairhaven (in a game they were no-hit) and Old Rochester, but Noversa said she'll trade a few wins for that tournament preparation.

"We've lost three in a row, but this isn't about wins and losses," she said. "It's not even about trying to get a higher seed. You can be a high seed and play a team with a worse record, but they're in a tough league. We're just trying to better prepare ourselves for the tournament."

These Bengals are a young bunch with not one senior in the starting lineup. They are also committed to defense, something Noversa has stressed from the get-go.

"That's what we work on most," she said. "We're pretty sold on defense. We've got Mya Parker in center who can track down everything and we have Courtney Hafey in left. Not too much is going to drop in there.

"We start two freshmen in Maddie Teixeira (3-for-4 against Old Rochester) and Saneywongse LeMar. We've been plopping (LeMar) in different places and she's been very steady for us. We have a lot of juniors on the team and many of them were starters as freshmen."

The Bengals have also been alternating between junior Sarah Allston and sophomore Hailey Roderick in the circle.

"Neither one of them is overpowering, but they do throw strikes," Noversa said.

Noversa knows playing teams from the South Coast Conference, typically known as a strong softball league, may result in a few losses, but she hopes will pay off in June.

"I don't think you get much out of playing teams who don't usually make the tournament," she said. "Yeah, maybe it's fun for the kids to score 20 or 30 runs, but what are they really getting out of it?"

Mike Thomas is the sports editor of The Herald News. Follow him on Twitter @NostraThomasHN.