Playing together for a state title, a rare opportunity for GNB Voc-Tech's three sisters
NEW BEDFORD — For most, reaching the state championship is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
It’s even more unique for GNB Voc-Tech softball this year as a trio of sisters — Lena, Ana and Lex Tsonis — are getting to experience it together.
“All three of us have a chance of winning something big and having a good memory together before Lena leaves is special,” said Ana Tsonis. “It would be fun to win something together.”
Lex added, “I feel like it’s something we’re going to be able to look back on and say, ‘We did that. We were all there when it happened.’ We can have that one special thing that no other siblings can really say they have.”
Lena agreed, “It’s pretty cool to say you’ve made it this far with your sisters.”
Sisters playing softball together at GNB Voc-Tech is nothing new, but to have three on varsity at the same time with no sets of twins is a first for the Bears.
“Talking to (former) coach (Mark) Collins, we’ve had a couple of sisters over the years but never three,” said GNB Voc-Tech head coach Craig Soares. “It’s a first.”
All three have made contributions in one way or another to help second-seeded GNB Voc-Tech reach Saturday’s Div. 3 state championship against No. 5 Middleboro.
Lena, the 2021 Standard-Times Softball Player of the Year, has continued her dominance at the plate by slugging 40 hits, including nine home runs. She’s also one of the SouthCoast’s top catchers.
“I feel like I’m one of the leaders with hitting,” said Lena, a senior catcher. “I feel like once I get into it, everyone gets into it.”
Ana agreed, “Her bat is a big key to the team. Her and I would have competitions for home runs in practice of who would hit the most.”
Ana, a sophomore third baseman, has enjoyed a breakout season at the plate. In the state semifinal against D-R, she went 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
“Coming into this year, Ana was a player to watch,” Soares said. “I knew she was young, but she’s a Tsonis. It’s in the blood.
“It hasn’t been unexpected. You just don’t know how much you're going to get when they’re younger, but she’s shown her worth and she’s only going to get better just like the little one, I expect the same thing with Lex.”
It took some encouragement from Lena and Ana for Lex to try out for varsity this year as a freshman.
“At the beginning of the season, she didn’t think she’d be able to be on the team,” Ana said. “She didn’t think she was ready for it and we pushed her to try out for varsity because we felt she was good enough to be on the team. It was a good chance for her to make it on the team because she deserved to be here.”
Having two older sisters on the team was comforting for Lex, but she also felt a desire to prove herself.
“It was more now I really have to prove that I’m not here just because of them, but that I have something to bring as well,” she said. “I wouldn’t say it was easier. I had to work harder at where I was.”
In recent games, Lex has played the outfield and been the flex player in Voc-Tech’s lineup, allowing the Bears to feature the strongest defense and hottest bats.
“We can go a straight nine or we can go 10,” Soares said. “Lex has some speed out there and (Ava) Neno has more pop. It works out to our favor. By doing that, it gives us a strong seven or eight batters where they can all put the bat on the ball.
“Lex is young and still a work in progress, but you can tell she’s got it in her. She’s grown up with it.”
Lena got into softball first, playing for Bay State at Brooklawn Park.
“We were always a soccer family and one day I said, ‘It’s cool to swing the bat and hit the ball,’ so I asked my parents to get into that,” Lena said. “That’s where it all started.
“I started around 10 years old and then once I started, everyone else got into it two or three years after.”
Lex fondly remembers following Lena at her softball games.
“Lena has inspired me to play softball so it’s really nice being able to play with her and Ana,” Lex said, admitting she only got into the sport because her sisters did it. “I feel like it was more of the annoying little sister. She wants to do it, I think I can do it too.
“When I first played 10U travel ball, that’s when I really fell in love with it.”
While each has played for Bay State and SouthCoast Scream, this is the first time all three are on the same team together.
“It’s pretty special,” Lena said. “Seeing my whole family come around and support all three of us is pretty cool because we’ve never really been on the same team so having that is a pretty cool experience.”
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Three Tsonis sisters help GNB Voc-Tech softball reach the state final
