Consalvi Takes Charge of Taunton Softball Program

Taunton athletic director Mark Ottavianelli recently announced that Carrie Consalvi will take over as the new softball coach this spring. She replaces legendary coach Dave Lewry in the Taunton dugout, following his retirement in November after 20 successful seasons in charge of the program.

“It’s super successful,” said Consalvi about the draw of taking over at Taunton. “It’s full of kids who are talented and super-motivated, and obviously has a big tradition of being successful and working hard. I kind of would rearrange my life to do this, to walk into this and not have to start from ground zero and not have to worry about motivating athletes. They’re going to come to me motivated.”

After starting her collegiate career at Sacred Heart, Consalvi played three years at Bridgewater State. A catcher and designated player, Consalvi was selected to the school’s Hall of Fame. She batted .387 for her career, helping the Bears win three straight MASCAC titles, appear in three straight Div. III World Series, earning three straight all-conference selections, and twice was named a Div. III second team All-American.

Consalvi spent one season coaching JV softball at her alma mater, Quabbin Regional, and was an assistant coach for three years at BSU. In the past few years, as her daughter has become more interested in softball, Consalvi made trips up from her home on the Cape to coach in the Taunton Youth Softball program.

She explained, “I really always loved the college level, the high school level and to have an opportunity when you have a town that has such a great foundation for softball; it’s like a breeding ground for softball. I just think I have so much as a female former player and coach to give them.”

The chance to take over one of the state’s perennial powers and a program that has strong foundations in terms of talent was one that Consalvi couldn’t pass up, even if it meant the formidable challenge of following in Lewry’s footsteps.

“It’s huge shoes to fill, but when talking with him I think our philosophies really lined up a lot,” Consalvi said. “Just getting an opportunity to understand and know how he felt about the sport and the team and how he ran things, we kind of shared some similar philosophies.”

She continued, “I’m sure that I’m going to do things a little differently than he would, so my concern is how are we going to learn to understand and communicate with each other to be successful. The meetings I’ve had have been really positive. I’m sure they were nervous, who is this person coming in and do they not only know the game but do they understand us as female student-athletes, and so far I think we already mesh well.”

Consalvi has met with her captains for the upcoming season and is excited to get started building on last year’s league title and the 2018 state title.

“As a team, ourselves, I would expect us to have those goals,” Consalvi said about the lofty expectations around the team. “We always strive to be the best we can be. There’s this big sort of pressure around us because they’ve won multiple league titles and won multiple state titles. Just speaking with the captains in recent weeks, I know that the kids are hungry to get back out there and to start getting their feet dirty and making strides to going after the league title.”

Considering the level of competition across the league, winning a title is never a foregone conclusion but Consalvi sees that challenge as a positive to get the team prepared for a postseason run.

“I think we’re really fortunate that the towns and the teams around us are so strong,” she said. “Anyone who comes out of the league is going to be a contender in states because they’re always playing such great competition.”