Holy Spirit’s Marisa Napolitano transforms from cheerleader to fierce softball pitcher in spring season

By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher In the fall, Holy Spirit’s Marisa Napolitano is all about glitter, make-up, hair spray and pom-poms as a cheerleader for the football team. Come springtime, she trades in the hair spray for eye black and a pitcher’s glove as one of the top players on the Spartans’ softball team. Cheerleaders aren’t normally viewed as hard-nosed athletes, but Napolitano makes the transition from cheer girl to fierce pitcher seamlessly. “She’s a great athlete. I think she’s an asset to both the cheerleading and softball teams,” said Allison Galdolfi, who is in her second season as head softball coach at Holy Spirit. “Marisa is a great leader on our team. She’s always helping the girls out, talking to them about different game situations — during the games and at practice — it’s almost like she’s another coach.” “I’ve always been an athlete, ever since I was younger. I’ve played every sport you can think of,” said Napolitano, a 17-year-old from Brigantine. “And I’ve always cheered, too. I started both at about the same time, around 6 years old, and just never stopped doing either sport. One is in the fall and one is in the spring, so it works out.” Senior Marisa Napolitano has been one of a few key upperclassmen who helped the Spartans through a rebuilding process this year. (Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan) Cheerleaders spend a lot of time developing leadership skills. The area cheer squads do a lot of community service and outreach, and leadership and citizenship are major areas of focus that cheerleading coaches spend a lot of time developing. So it’s no surprise that Napolitano has become the leader of the Holy Spirit softball team. Gandolfi thought so highly of Napolitano that she made her a team captain last year, when Napolitano was just a junior. And that leadership from Napolitano, fellow senior Brooke Hallett and junior Allyson Hoke is more critical than ever. The Spartans are in the midst of a rebuilding process and those three are the only players who aren’t either a freshman or a sophomore. Holy Spirit came into this week without a win on its record, but Napolitano said she understands the situation and is doing everything she can to keep the team positive and moving in a good direction. “We’re a really young team, so a lot of the girls are still learning. There’s only one other senior and one junior, so there are really only three upperclassmen. I just try to keep the girls’ heads up and tell them that a lot of the other teams are older so don’t get too down on yourself,” Napolitano said. “I try to cheer them up and I never want to let them see me get down, because once you see a leader of the team get down you get down as well. I always just try to help the girls out. I view them all as my little sisters. They have a lot of talent and I think in a couple of years they will be very good. “As a pitcher, you have to lead the team and you pretty much control the game. I enjoy that role.” Gandolfi said having Napolitano, Hallett and Hoke on the squad to see the Spartans through this transition period is huge for turning the program around. “It’s tough when we are trying to rebuild and bring the program back up to what it was years ago. Sometimes the girls get down when they lose, but we have great upperclassmen,” Gandolfi said. “Marisa does a great job of getting everyone through it. She’s a very good player who knows the game very well, and she tells the girls everything including how they should be behaving off the field. It’s great having her out here. She’s always ready to play and always ready to work hard.” Even during softball season, Napolitano said the cheerleader in her continues to come out. She just can’t help herself. “I still carry over the hair bows to softball. I made all the girls bows this year on the softball team. I’ve always been — I don’t want to say a tomboy — but I guess a little more rough than a preppy girl,” Napolitano said. “I cheer at softball, like when my teammates are batting. I sometimes lose my voice during softball games like I do during cheerleading.” Gandolfi said she respects Napolitano’s perspective about the season. She knows it’s not easy for a senior to be part of a rebuilding project in their final year of high school sports. “Anything I need from her she’s willing to do, just little things to help me out. Like when I needed signs posted for tryouts I gave her the signs and she posted them all around the school. She does anything I ask,” Gandolfi said. “She knows we’re trying to build the sport up and get as many girls out as we can. She might be in her last year, but she understands where we are in trying to build the program, and she’s looking to help us with the future of the team.” The Spartans may be struggling a bit right now in terms of wins, but that hasn’t taken anything away from Napolitano’s enjoyment of her senior year, she said, or her entire high school career. She got a chance to be a part of four state championship appearances with the football program, and in her first two years the team won the state title. She’s also looking forward to attending Cabrini College this fall, and last week attended Holy Spirit’s senior prom. “Senior year is going great. It’s been the best year for me so far, I’m happy to say. Everything is really great,” Napolitano said. Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]