- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,135,358
- Reaction score
- 59
You must be registered for see images attach
IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. (WROC) — Success has been hard to come by for the Eastridge softball team over the past 30 years. In 2023, the varsity team ended its season with just seven wins. Then, in 2024, the team hired Shelly Collins as their newest head coach.
In just one season, the team improved to 12 wins. The following season, in 2025, they racked up 11 wins and made a run to the Class A Sectional Finals, where they lost to Pittsford Sutherland. Now this season, Collins and the Lacers have started their season a perfect 10-0.
“Coach Collins just saw what everyone else didn’t see in us,” explained Emma Johnson, a senior on the softball team. “She elevated what our program already had.”
While the improvement since the addition of Collins is obvious on the scoreboard, her athletes say her impact goes much deeper.
“Coach brings a lot of new standards into the program,” said senior Harper Kuehne. “She taught us how to have respect for ourselves on and off the field, and how to always put in 100% effort.”
“Having these different morals,” explained Marley Siembor. “That we talk about every single day at practice really gets us in the mindset to know that we are who we are, and that we’re really good.”
The instant success with the addition of Collins is not much of a surprise when you look at her resume. In her over 30 seasons as a varsity softball coach, she won seven Section V titles and one New York State title. In addition, with over 530, she is in the top two all-time for Section V softball wins.
All of these personal accomplishments and accolades are extremely impressive, but if you ask her, they don’t matter at all.
“Part of my why is to develop strong, independent, self-advocating females,” explained Collins. “We do that through the game of softball. Seeing all of their hard work have a payoff not just in wins and losses, but in being great people, is what keeps us coming back.”
Collins and her staff of Dave Prong and Denise Dillnen have coached together for 12 seasons, meaning 12 different groups of girls. Even so, they all agree that this year’s Eastridge team is special.
“The fact that teams have played together, I think that’s hit or miss,” said Dave Prong, one of Collins assistant coaches. “It doesn’t necessarily always translate to success down the road. This groups a little different. Once we got everybody on the same page, they just continued to climb the ladder and improve. The fact that they stay together, and they all seem to have a common result, is very helpful for us.”
“They always say sports build character, but they also reveal it,” added Denise Dillnen, a former player of Collins, turned assistant coach. “These kids are selfless, fearless in the face of failure, kind, and hardworking. They come here every single day and say, ‘You know what, I didn’t have a good day at school, but I’m so excited to be in the field. They deal with life in the right way, and they deal with each other in a great way.”
Collins and her staff have now taken the good player and combined it with the good person.
“They are good athletes, so they just needed someone to push them to do things the right way,” she explained. “100% all the time. Come to practice every day. Be responsible to your teammates and yourself.”
While the end goal is to take home the program’s first sectional title since 1992, and possibly their first-ever state title, these girls have learned that it’s about more than just softball.
“One of our overarching goals this season is to get better every single day,” said Kuehne. “To play as hard as we can, and make it as far as we can in the postseason.”
“Do good, but also have fun at the same time,” added Johnson. “Because a lot of people can lose sight of why they’re actually playing softball.”
“To play every game one at a time,” said Siembor. “One practice at a time. One pitch at a time. Just enjoying every moment and having fun. A lot of us are seniors. We can’t think about it as being sad; we just have to live in the moment.”
In Class AA2, the Lacers have a tough road ahead of them come playoff time, but with one of the best coaches in Section V history, anything is possible.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst.
Continue reading...
