Softball

NJ PREP A CHAMPIONS
2009, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019

MAPL CHAMPS 
2004, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019

Blair softball boasts a tradition of success, and our program is dedicated to developing all aspects of an athlete’s future. Our excellence derives from a commitment to hard work, physical and mental, and a commitment to creating strong team chemistry.

We work hard to make our season fun, knowing full well that performing at our maximum every day maximizes our ability to win games. And winning is much more fun. Our team concept stresses unselfish play, positive self-image, healthy self-assessment (celebrating individual strengths and attacking weaknesses) and skill building.

Our season includes a nine-day spring break trip to Orlando, Florida, where we face our prep competition and challenge ourselves by playing teams from all over—last year, Ohio, New Jersey and Texas. Our recipe for success does produce many winning seasons, but, more importantly, we understand the concepts of respect for self and others, teamwork, and the true joy of meeting physical and mental challenges.

Competition in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) is excellent. A prospective player can count on facing top-notch pitching in nearly every contest in her years of playing at Blair. As a former college counselor, head varsity coach Carolyn Conforti-Browse '79 works to find the best sports and academic match possible. Many former Blair athletes are playing softball in college. A partial list from the past decade includes: Christina Giambrone (Lafayette ’10 and Patriot League Player of the Year), Alesha Sisco ’07, Jen Welsh ’05, Dickinson College; Deb Kozy ’03, Emory University; Sasha Fisher ’06, Pacific University; Carolyn Davis, Tory Glowacky ’02, Middlebury; Amanda Glowacky ’03, Pomona College; Cortney Romyns ’04, Western Connecticut; Margaret DeOliveira ’09 and Amanda Zranchev ’08, Colgate University; Ali Magistro '10, Emerson University; Ashley Iannone '11, Michelle Fox '12 and Eugenia Lavanant '13, Gettysburg College; Elizabeth Fox '12, Newbury College; Ana Greik '13, DePaul University; Carolyn Wan '13, Bucknell University; Jade Assad '16, Wheaton College; Rachel Hoffman '15, Sewanee University; Jillian McKenna '15, Drexel University; Haley Chrobock '15, Wellesley College.

Having had the honor of coaching at Blair for many years, and the honor of coaching against some truly excellent opponents, Coach Conforti-Browse notes with confidence that being a member of the Blair team "is truly a special opportunity and a positive experience. Many of our softball alums (and their fathers!) return for games and support our program. Five former players have become coaches themselves. I am quite proud of my teams, past and present. We have lots of fun and work very hard."

For more information about Blair softball, contact Coach Conforti-Browse at (908) 362-6121, ext. 5667.

Meet Coach Conforti-Browse

Blair English teacher, Director of Leadership Programs and Dean of Campus Life Carolyn Conforti-Browse '79 has coached softball for more than 25 years, including a brief stint as an assistant coach for the Belgian National U16 team.

She is also the director of curriculum for the Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy, a soccer leadership camp for girls, which plans to expand to softball and lacrosse in the coming years. She has been named "Prep Coach of the Year" several times by The Star-Ledger and New Jersey Herald, and recently received a U.S. State Department grant to lead a trip for a sports cultural exchange program.

A member of the NFCA and a two-star coach, she is married to mathematics teacher R. Latta Browse; they are parents of Tyler '08 and Annelies '13.

Meet Coach Abascal

Nadia Abascal joined Blair’s science faculty as a teacher of chemistry. A graduate of Barnard College (2011), she earned her master’s (2013) and PhD (2017) at Yale University. Dr. Abascal gained significant laboratory experience as a post-doctoral researcher in Yale’s molecular biophysics and biochemistry department, where her work focused on the assembly of a ricin biosensor. A crossfit enthusiast, she coaches weight training and softball at Blair.

Meet Coach Giambrone

Assistant softball coach Christina Giambrone ’06 was a three-year captain of Blair softball and one-year captain of field hockey, as well as a varsity basketball player. A member of Blair’s 2004 Mid-Atlantic Prep League championship-winning team, she continued her athletic career at Lafayette College, where she became the second student-athlete in Lafayette’s history to be named Patriot League Softball Player of the Year. During her career at Lafayette, she broke school records for walks, home runs and runs, and she led the team in batting average, runs, hits, home runs and runs batted in. She was the 2007 Patriot League Rookie of the Year, the first Lafayette student to receive that honor. In 2008, she made the Patriot League first team and set a single-season record for runs.

View directions to athletic events. To read recaps about past events, go to the "Team News" tab above.

View photos from the past few seasons or past years on Blair's Flickr.

Blair JV softball follows the traditions and aspirations of our varsity program, working to develop teamwork and athletic skill through commitment to hard work and strong team chemistry. Developing our skills on the field builds powerful young women and makes for a season of fun competition.

Meet Coach Williams

Ann Williams is director of Timken Library. A Blair faculty member since 2007, she teaches in the history department, serves as a monitor to the freshman class, and coaches girls’ JV soccer and softball teams. Ann completed her undergraduate work in English at the University of Delaware in 1981 and earned her graduate degree in library and information science at Rutgers University in 2006. A resident of Blairstown for more than 25 years, she worked at Blairstown Elementary School prior to coming to Blair along with her two children: Robbie '12 and Kelly '15.

Meet Coach Manni

Director of vocal music Ryan Manni is a 2016 summa cum laude graduate of Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. A member of Blair’s faculty since 2016, he directs the Blair Academy Singers and Chamber Choir, teaches music courses, gives voice lessons and serves as musical director of the Blair Academy Players’ winter musical. Ryan has studied with leading choral conductors and was a member of Westminster’s Grammy-nominated Westminster Williamson Voices and Symphonic Choir. He has performed on some of the world’s great stages, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and participated as a full conductor at the Choral Institute at Oxford, a collaboration between Westminster Choir College and St. Stephen’s House, a Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford. Ryan is the assistant JV softball coach, and he lives and serves dorm duty in West Hall.

View directions to athletic events.

View photos from the past few seasons or past years on Blair's Flickr.