Pain in the gut: Alfiere’s absence tests WRHS

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Katie Alfiere, the best player on the NVL's best team, had an appendectomy last week and may miss the rest of the season.

BEACON FALLS — It’s essentially useless, but it probably just cost Katie Alfiere and the Woodland softball team a heck of a lot.

In just a few fell swoops of the surgeon’s knife to remove Alfiere’s infected appendix last Wednesday morning, much more was taken away from both the star senior and the Hawks—the undefeated season they were working on went by the wayside last week with an 8-2 loss at Wolcott in Alfiere’s first game out, and now the Naugatuck Valley League and Class M championships are highly in doubt.

Two weeks ago, Alfiere experienced the first pains in her stomach but simply “ignored it” and proceeded to throw a 4-0 shutout against St. Paul for Woodland’s 14th win of the season. Her condition worsened throughout the weekend, but even then she says she thought it was only the flu and continued to ignore the stomach pain.

“I went to school [Monday] because we had a game against Watertown, and I pitched,” Alfiere says. “I was in extreme pain, but I pitched because I had to pitch.”

And pitch she did, leading the Hawks to a 10-4 comeback victory on what we at Citizen’s News called an “off day.” Little did we know she pitched the game with an infected, leaking appendix.

Alfiere, always known as a tough competitor, went to school again Tuesday as the pain worsened.

Alfiere watched from the dugout last Thursday, as her team lost for the first time this season, 8-2 to Wolcott.

“I couldn’t really stand up straight, and my stomach was swelled up but I ignored it,” Alfiere says. “I watched practice and went home and ate a bowl of chicken noodle soup because I couldn’t eat anything else.”

That was the last meal Alfiere would ingest for four days; she went to the emergency room Tuesday evening, and after a late-night CAT scan, Alfiere received the diagnosis—appendicitis.

Alfiere had surgery to remove the appendix—which luckily had not burst after at least four days of swelling—Wednesday morning and left the hospital Thursday afternoon. Before she left, doctors told her the news she dreaded: She couldn’t play softball for three to four weeks, until after the end of the state tournament.

“I was upset, but it’s not like there was really anything I could do about it,” Alfiere says. “The surgery had to happen. Obviously, I was upset, but I couldn’t really do anything.”

Not even five hours after leaving the hospital, Alfiere made with her parents the trip to Wolcott to watch her undefeated Hawks play their first game without her.

“At first I was OK with it,” Alfiere says of watching from the dugout. “I couldn’t really wait to go and watch because I hadn’t been at a softball field in four days. It didn’t really sink in [that I was out] until Wolcott gave me a card after the game because it showed they cared.”

It was an 8-2 loss for the Hawks, unable to shut down Wolcott’s offense and unable to produce much themselves. With that, the undefeated season Alfiere dreamed of was lost.

“When we lost, it made me realize more that I was out,” Alfiere says. “I couldn’t fix it, I couldn’t do anything about it. The season meant a lot. I wanted to do well, I wanted to be the undefeated team because I think as a team we all deserved it, but I guess it didn’t really work out that way.”

Coaches from throughout the NVL and the state have sent cards and e-mails relaying well wishes to Alfiere for a speedy recovery. The future Quinnipiac Bobcat hopes to not only be ready for summer softball with her Xtreme Chaos club but also to return for the state tournament, despite doctors’ prognosis.

“I want to be back for states,” Alfiere says. “I really do. I have my doctor’s appointment Thursday. I’m going to try. But it looks like I’m going to be watching the rest of the season, unfortunately.”

As she watches, she continues to fulfill admirably her role as captain, attending every game and practice and cheering on her teammates. They’ll be the ones to determine the fate of this season for Woodland.

“I don’t think the team needs to really change,” Alfiere said. “Obviously, me not being there is a huge impact. But they’re very good defensively, so it shouldn’t be a problem there, but mentally it hurts. I just told them to play their game.”

Luckily, Alfiere can live without her appendix. We’ll find out whether the Hawks can live without her.

1 COMMENT

  1. the last sentence of the article is just ridiculous and not needed. you make it sound like katie is the only one that wanted an undefeated season. dont you think the whole team, especially the seniors wanted that as well!?!? the team is not all katie. she is an excellent player and person but the girls can still play excellent without her, as they have proven yesterday in their game against holycross.