Fun is key for Haley Boudreau as Johnston softball shows it's title ready

JOHNSTON – Haley Boudreau has been dealing with pressure since the first pitch of her freshman season, so giving up three runs and bringing the tying run to the plate was light work for the Johnston senior. But now she has fun handling it. Boudreau is nearly at the end of a career that will leave her as the best pitcher in Johnston softball history.

The only thing missing from her impressive resume is a title, but Boudreau and her teammates showed in Tuesday’s 6-5 win over Portsmouth that they’re ready to chase one and have plenty of fun while doing it. “We feel amazing, especially on Senior Night,” said Boudreau after extinguishing a late rally by the Patriots to close out the game. “I was coming into this like ‘I don’t care if we win or lose’ because there was a big chance we could lose against this team.

“After the first inning, I was like we got this. We played as a team, we just weren’t nervous this game and I think that’s why we took home the win. ” Expectations were high when Boudreau arrived at Johnston and somehow, she’s managed to live up to the hype.

Boudreau has a case as the best pitcher in program history, is chasing state records in career strikeouts, ad has led the Panthers to double-digit wins in four straight seasons, the only time that’s happened in the history of the program. But there’s another program mark she’s interested in – a title. “We want to win this this.