Sheryl Scanlon

Female Player - Presented by Phillis Andreottola

Sheryl started playing competitive softball at the age of 12 in the CYO league of her church and just recently retired last summer. Her participation in USSSA softball spans from 1987 to 2005. Her softball career provided Sheryl the opportunities to play in many places in the U.S. such as California, Maryland and most of the upper East Coast states. 

Sheryl played on the USSSA class 'B' team, Andre's, for 12 years. Her lifetime batting average is .404 and her win/loss record is equally impressive at 140-86. As the #1 pitcher for Andre's, their "Iron Woman", Sheryl pitched in 226 games and over 1100 innings in her career. She shut out the opposition 23 times and had a winning percentage of over .600. 

During her time with Andre's Sheryl played in approximately 27 tournaments. Sheryl describes one of her experiences:
"My greatest softball thrill would have to be in 1998 when my Andre's team finally won the Mass State 'B' Championship. We were playing in Leominster that weekend and finished undefeated with a 4-0 record. Before we started our 1st game on Saturday, our left fielder was out searching for a 4-leaf clover and found one. She gave it to me and I played with it in my sock the whole weekend. Throughout the entire tournament, everyone contributed to our success from the coaches to the players to our fans. Whether we needed a big defensive play, a long fly ball to score a run or a key strike out, we managed to come up with them. We definitely worked together as a "TEAM" that weekend. When we got to the finals, we played BK's, which had been our biggest rival over the years. They had always managed to defeat us in the past because we melted under pressure, but not this time. That was our last year of playing as Andre's and a fitting way to go out. We finally won the tournament that had eluded us the previous 11 years." 

Sheryl states that although Andre's had their ups and downs over the years, "we always managed to stay together as a team and win our share of tournaments along the way."  Indeed. Andre's (1987-1998) Tournament Team Awards include (7) 1st Place finishes, (6) 2nd place finishes, (5) 3rd place finishes, (4) fourth place finishes and the Sportsmanship award at the 1995 Class ‘A’ NIT.

Sheryl's USSA Tournament Awards:

• 1987 Octoberfest MVP
• 1987 Victory Market Qualifier Gold Glove
• 1988 Octoberfest MVP​
• 1997 Octoberfest All Tournament Team
• 1998 Octoberfest All Tournament Team
• 1999 Octoberfest MVP

"There were many exciting moments during my softball career, but one stands out the most. We had qualified for the Northeast Regional Tournament on Labor Day weekend in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1991. We didn't know what to expect when we got there and we were prob-ably the underdog from the Massachusetts contingent, which didn't bother us. We could relax and have fun. The day before we were scheduled to play our first game, I had a minor accident. While heading out to morning practice with my equipment in one hand and coffee in the other, I somehow managed to trip over a pole in the parking lot and land on my right shoulder. I had a lot of trouble lifting my arm, never mind trying to throw overhand. It was a good thing that I was the pitcher and threw underhand about 95% of the time. We played extremely well the entire weekend and played a lot of games. We managed to play well enough to still be playing on Monday, which was a rarity for us. I think that this was probably the first time we had done that. We lost our second game of the weekend first thing Monday morning but we managed to finish 11th out of 45 teams. We had the best finish out of all the Massachusetts and New Hampshire teams." 

Sheryl played in the Quincy Women's softball league from 1984-2005. While in the QWSL from 2000-2005 she played on "another great team-Trainor's. This was a team with a tremendous amount of talent. We won the championship 5 out of the 6 years that I was on the team and 4 consecutively to close out my softball career." 

Sheryl's QWSL Stats for 2000-2005 include a 85-10 Win-loss record, (4) MVP awards and (5) "All Star" appearances. In the seasons spanning from 2002 to 2005 Trainor's compiled a 69-11 record, including a 20-0 season in 2003, a feat most definitely aided by Sheryl's superior pitching and effective hitting. 

"I have formed many close friendships over the years, not only with my teammates, who will probably be lifelong friends, but also with other players and umpires. USSSA softball has been a big part of my life and I will cherish all of the memories that I have."  -Sheryl Scanlon