Schools

Brittany Labbadia

Junior softball shortstop a star on the field and in the classroom.

Berlin junior softball shortstop Brittany Labbadia excels on the field as evidenced by her being named All-State as a sophomore after last year’s season.

Combine that with her talent in the classroom, she is a member of the National Honor Society and ranked fourth in a class of 260 students, and you have the total package.

For those reasons, Labbadia is this week's Berlin Patch-Farmington Ave. Subway Athlete of the Week.

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While the Redcoats have struggled out to a 2-2 start, Labbadia has had some great moments. Against Northwest Catholic, she singled, homered and stole a base while being perfect in the field.

"Brittany is an excellent player and an exceptional student," Berlin coach Jason Pires said. "As a player she was voted as one of our captains as a junior and was All-State for class L infield as a sophomore. She is our lead-off batter and does an amazing job of setting the table for the rest of the lineup. She is equally as good at getting the key hits to drive in runs when it is called upon. She has plus speed, which helps turn potential outs into singles and drive into the gap into home runs.  

"As a student Brittany is a NHS member and is ranked in the top two percent of her class. She takes a very challenging schedule and is able to balance that with athletics very well.

"Brittany plans to play softball beyond high school and I feel she definitely has the talent and the personal makeup to play at any level of competition, both athletically and academically."

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Labbadia comes from an athletic family as her mom played softball at Quinnipiac College. She is the daughter of Lynn and Rocco Labbadia.

"My parents are very supportive and always helping me with softball," Labbadia said. "We even set up a cage in our living room and they let me work hard to get better, it helps a lot."

Labbadia says her speed is a big weapon.

"It always helps because if I get on first I'm always looking to steal a base and if I hit the ball I'm always thinking about going to second right out of the batter's box," she said.

Labbadia, who plays AAU softball for the CT. Shock out of the Meriden-Wallingford area, was surprised she made All-State last year.

"I found out when coach announced it on the bus on the way to a scrimmage," she said. "Everyone was really happy for me. I called my parents and they didn't believe me. I really didn't believe it either."

She says this Berlin High School team has a chance to be really good.

"Personally I want to play the best I can in the infield and keep errors to a minimum," she said. "I also want to limit my strikeouts because if I get on base we have a better chance to score. I think this team can go far in the states. We lost in the first round the last two years and we all want to make it further this year."

While she has another year at Berlin High, Labbadia is already looking at college.

"I want to go to a high academic school," she said. "But I still want to play softball."

Luckily for Berlin High, she has the rest of this year and next year to play in the Redcoats' uniform.  

(Berlin Patch, in conjunction with the Farmington Ave. Subway Restaurant will honor an Athlete of the Week each Sunday. Each week, Berlin Patch will select a spring athlete, who will earn the Athlete of the Week distinction. That athlete will get, in return, a foot long sub at any time during the week, at the Farmington Ave. Subway.)

 


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