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Softball seniors Shams, Gagne say adios

By Nick Russo

On May 6, 2011

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Two softball seniors have said goodbye to the Hornets following their postseason appearance almost two weeks ago.

Senior captain Natalia Shams and first base player Mary Gagne are both set to graduate on May 15. They are both leaving behind a softball team that shows a lot of promise for future years.

"It hasn't hit me that it's over," Shams said when asked how it feels to be done with softball. "Even after MMA [Maine Maritime Academy] I wasn't upset, I don't cry after games. It's obviously really difficult because I've been doing it for four years and that's all I really know. Each year has been incredibly different; I only wish the best for the team."

Shams, who has been a captain for two years, says coaching is her next stop in the world of softball. Shams, along with Gagne and freshman shortstop Chelsea Watson, will be coaches at a national Nike camp this summer. She says her most memorable moment as a Hornet came just a few short weeks ago.

"I've played every position at Lyndon State, and this year my coach put me in for an inning just to say I've done it," she said. Shams went on to thank her teammates, saying the team deserves all the credit because "there's no me without them."

Beyond softball, Shams has been a Resident Assistant for three of her four years at Lyndon State. She says being an RA has been one of her most rewarding experiences at the college because it has allowed her to meet almost everyone on campus. She encourages underclassman to get involved in athletics, campus life, and academics.

"A lot of people don't play sports because they're concerned it might take away from academics, it (being an RA) shows you can do both and be successful at both," said Shams.

Shams has already been accepted to study at Graduate School abroad at the Royal Holloway University of London. She plans to earn her masters in international relations and hopes to be a diplomat, but isn't 100% sure if that will work best.

Gagne, on the other hand, played three years and took her junior year off. She says her career at Lyndon was book-ended by memorable freshman and senior years.

"My freshman year I went to nationals which was pretty special," said Gagne. "And this year at the end of the year, almost every girl thanked me and Natalia for being there this year and helping them. We were in a different league, only 8 teams in that league. This year's team was about on par with that team, but the conference wasn't as competitive."

Gagne, an exercise science major, says she looks forward to working alongside Shams and Watson at the Nike camp this summer. She hopes to find a job in sports management soon as well. Gagne says the realization that she has reached the end of her years playing varsity softball is tough to handle.

"It's hard knowing that part of softball is done for me, being a player," she said. "I'm going to go on and coach but there's always going to be completive side to me.