For the team, for the game, for the win
Gamache carries versatile mindset into fifth-year finish with UNCW softball
By Alex Riley
Special to the Seahawk Perch
WILMINGTON — The sun’s rays are almost blinding on an unseasonably warm February day. Only a handful of wispy clouds are scattered across the blue sky, providing no relief from the reflection off the dirt at Boseman Field.
This time of year usually calls for long-sleeve shirts and full-length pants, but today most of the UNCW softball players taking part in batting practice have opted for shorts and T-shirts as the sun beams down uncontested.
This segment of practice is drawing to a close, with the final drill being treated like a real at-bat. Balls and strikes count, and when you’re out, you return to the line.
Janel Gamache is first up. She is patient in her approach. Maybe too patient.
She begins the drill with a strikeout and walks out of the cage and to the end of the line.
A few moments later, Gamache’s aggressiveness kicks in and she swings early, rolling a harmless grounder slowly back to the pitching circle for another out.
“She made me look silly,” Gamache says to a teammate as she hops back into line, eager to talk strategy.
Eventually, the graduate student returns to the batter’s box. She’s seen enough, this time lacing a single to left field on the first pitch offered. That’s the approach and swing that led her to be named the first CAA Softball Player of the Week of the season less than four hours earlier.
With time running out, everyone’s final at-bat starts with a ball and strike. Gamache proceeds to work a full count before slapping another single into the outfield. She smiles as she walks away from the plate. The smile doesn’t fade as coaches tell players to pick up balls in the outfield as they finish.
Within minutes, Gamache is jogging back towards the circle, arms loaded with nearly every softball that made its way to the outfield grass. She dumps them into a bucket and heads toward the dugout. This drill is over and soon it’ll be Gamache’s turn to stand in the circle and pitch to teammates.
The hitter. The pitcher. The fielder. The motivator. The clean-up committee. The leader. Janel Gamache has been, and continues to be, whatever softball needs her to be.
And along the way, that approach has made her a winner.
Finding her own path
The dictionary definition of “Gamache” is an athlete with a specialized talent in sports played on a diamond. At least, that’s how it is defined in Exeter, Rhode Island.
Janel is the youngest of Dan and Jane Gamache’s four children, each of whom established baseball or softball as a family specialty.
Dan Jr. set the tone early, playing three years with Auburn baseball before being drafted in the sixth-round of the 2011 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Olivia signed with Tennessee Tech in 2010 and became the softball program’s primary pitcher during her four-year career. Reed had a strong college baseball career at Binghamton before landing a free agent minor league contract with the New York Mets in 2016.
Janel’s path to the diamond was a bit different.
“Way back when she was really little and Dan (Jr.) was in high school, she and her friend would play with toy horses behind the backstop of the high school games and never ever watch the game,” Dan Sr. said with a laugh. “They were basically looking in the other direction.”
In true youngest child fashion, Janel decided to be the family contrarian for as long as she could.
The Gamache family rule is simple – there’s no restriction on what you can get involved with, but you have to be involved in something. For Janel, that was soccer early on.
But it all changed when some friends started playing rec league softball. The game she had tried to avoid finally won her over.
“Soccer isn’t very loved in my family. I feel like baseball or softball players don’t really love soccer,” Janel joked. “I think I knew I’d end up playing (softball), but I came home in third grade and asked if I could try out for rec league softball. My parents were probably like, ‘Yes. No more soccer.’”
Despite the allure of toy horses and an attempted soccer career, Janel had seen and absorbed a lot of softball and baseball knowledge thanks to years of watching others. When she was at home, her siblings took time to play catch and teach her in the backyard. Like Olivia before, Janel became very familiar with the 45-minute drive from Exeter to Planet Fastpitch, a renowned softball training facility just across the state line in Uxbridge, Massachusetts.
“She didn’t play right away, she was always coming to our games. But once she did start to play, she hit the ground running,” Olivia said.
The new kid
Peter DeStefano knew long before Janel showed up at Moses Brown School about the reputation she had as a talented softball player. He had heard of her siblings and their accolades. He had been told that the youngest Gamache had displayed similar traits at the youth and travel ball levels.
But there’s a difference between being talented at a sport and truly gifted for it. Janel quickly proved she was the latter.
During her freshman year, Janel was mouthing something to DeStefano from across the softball diamond he couldn’t understand. The former Moses Brown coach was watching one runner race for home but didn’t see a play in the field where another base runner was called out.
Janel had. The defensive player had the ball in her glove but applied the tag with an empty hand.
“I didn’t see the play, but if Janel says that’s what happened, then that’s what happened,” DeStefano said. “So I appealed and next thing you know, it’s overturned. She was a freshman and doing things like that.”
Founded in 1784, Moses Brown School is a private Quaker school in Providence for grades pre-K through high school. With a total student population of just a few hundred and rigorous academic standards, it is a difficult place to get into, especially for students who are enrolling later in their academic careers.
Like her siblings, Janel had gone to public school through eighth grade. Unlike her siblings, she assumed she would attend a public high school. The older three Gamache children all enrolled in private academies for their final four years.
Because of her strong academic record and commitment to community service, Janel was able to receive a scholarship that allowed her to attend Moses Brown.
“I remember going and filling out the application to the school and thinking, ‘They’re all going to be these preppy, rich people and I’m not going to enjoy that at all,’” Janel said. “I was so nervous because I had my friends at my old school and I came to this new school and I had only met two people before I went in. But I wouldn’t change anything about it because of all the people I met and the stuff I got to do.”
What she did on the softball diamond in those four years was nothing short of spectacular. In her first appearance, DeStefano marveled as his newest player pitched a perfect game in a five-inning, run-ruled victory. It was a moment that set the tone for what was to come.
Over the course of her career, Janel pitched, hit and defended anywhere she was asked. She earned all-state honors at some level all four years, including first-team as a junior and senior.
In Rhode Island, private institutions are allowed to compete against public schools. While much of a school’s classification depends on its size, success also plays a role. Before Janel’s arrival, Moses Brown had been a Division II school in softball. By junior year, the program had been moved up to Division I status.
The Quakers had reached the Division II state championship in 2016 but fell short of winning. A year later, playing at the Division I level, they reached the championship again with the same result. Despite a roster with immense talent (seven other players went on to play collegiately, including one at Arizona), the Quakers couldn’t seem to get over the hump.
“In hard times, that’s when she’s at her best. She keeps her teammates up and we needed that desperately because it wasn’t like the championship year was totally smooth,” DeStefano said. “She’s the perfect person to have to bring everybody up and keep everything in perspective. She’s just a magical person, and that’s more important than her athleticism and softball accolades.”
After a run of close calls the previous three seasons, Moses Brown navigated the Division I bracket in 2018 to capture the program’s third overall state championship and first at the highest level in Rhode Island Interscholastic League competition, taking down Coventry, 6-3, in the finals.
“She wept. I had never seen her cry before. It was joy and relief, so relieved we finally did it,” DeStefano said.
Destination: Known
Kristy Norton looked down at her phone and read the caller ID. She always answered when Joyce Maudie called. Norton just wasn’t exactly sure why she was calling.
A longtime softball coach at multiple levels, Maudie is a fixture in the game and a familiar name as she coached former UNCW assistant Kama Tucker at Barton College.
Maudie, the head coach at NCAA Division III Roger Williams University in Rhode Island, was calling to offer intel on the state’s player of the year. Norton and Tucker, both former assistants at James Madison, were familiar with the Gamache name. They had recruited Olivia during their time in Harrisonburg but it was Maudie who ended up signing the elder sister at Tennessee Tech.
Janel was headed down the coast for a tournament in South Carolina. Norton was hosting a clinic at UNCW the day before Janel and her travel team were scheduled to play in Myrtle Beach. If Maudie said she was worth a look, they would offer her a chance to stop by. It wasn’t the only offer they made that weekend.
“She knocked my socks off. It was a one-hour clinic, that was it. And we did defense. We didn’t hit – I didn’t even know if the kid could hit,” Norton said. “She worked out at shortstop and within the first three balls, there was one bad hop and she fielded it with ease and as a 17-year-old athlete, she did everything perfectly on that bad hop. I looked at Kama and I said, ‘Oh, she’s coming here.’”
Norton didn’t have to see Janel hit or pitch in Myrtle Beach to verify her initial impression, but it solidified the decision to make an offer.
Because of her skill level, Norton wasn’t sure if the Seahawks would be able to convince Janel that Wilmington was where she needed to be. Fortunately, the program aligned with what Janel was looking for.
“When I started looking at schools, I remember making a list of all the schools in North Carolina because I thought North Carolina seemed really cool and I wanted to look into it more,” Janel said. “My goal was to get far away and go somewhere warm. I didn’t want to shovel anymore snow.”
“I came down to some camps and then fell in love with Wilmington. What’s not to love?”
From the moment she stepped on campus, Janel became a fixture at Boseman Field. She played in every game as a freshman, sophomore and junior, with 110 starts in 114 total games. Last year, she did miss six contests due to a minor injury, but still managed to start in 40 of the 41 contests she took part in. She led the team in batting average, total bases, slugging percentage, walks drawn, doubles and home runs.
And among all those games played are an array of positions she’s spent time at. Over the course of her UNCW career, Janel has played at first (54 games), second (1), shortstop (56), third (2) and designated hitter (17). She’s also pitched 26 times.
More than that, she’s gotten the chance to make a lot of memories, two of which particularly stand out.
Back in 2019, Wilmington became the site of a Gamache family reunion, as Olivia, then the pitching coach for Rhode Island, came to town for the Seahawk Softball Bash in early February.
Because of their age difference, the two siblings had never been on the same organized team or faced off with each other.
“We trash talked a little bit leading up to it. But when she was in the dugout, I was like, ‘I can’t look at her because she knows I can’t trash talk well and she would beat me on that front,’” Janel said.
Thankfully, the youngest Gamache was able to back it up, going a combined 4-for-8 with two RBI and two runs scored in a pair of Seahawk victories. Janel also pitched UNCW to a win in the second meeting between the two teams.
“That was a surreal moment coaching against her and trying to call pitches against her. She’s a very difficult person to call pitches against,” Olivia said.
Added Dan Sr.: “You could tell they were loving it, but I could also tell they both wanted to beat the other. Janel got the best of it and you hear about it every once in a while at family get-togethers.”
While bragging rights are always good to have, nothing compares to the run UNCW made last spring, going 32-15 overall en route to winning the CAA Tournament and securing an NCAA postseason berth, both of which were firsts in program history.
When she came to Wilmington, Janel knew UNCW softball was still building. Last season was a showcase in hard work paying off.
“It was very fulfilling,” Janel said. “It was just proving that we could get there and proving that we could win it and compete in a regional, it felt really good to show people that and get everyone’s eye on us.”
Trusting in each other
All Ashley Wade could do was shake her head, mutter a less-than-enthusiastic, “All right,” and wait.
Trust is something earned, not given. Less than a month into her first season as UNCW’s new softball coach, Wade could only imagine what the smirks from Janel and teammate Mary Sobataka meant.
The duo told their new coach not to ask questions, so she didn’t. It was an extension of trust, even if it felt a little uneasy. A few hours later, she saw what they had been up to.
Following a four-loss weekend in a tournament at UNC Greensboro, the team leaders wanted to fire up the dugout. As players came to the field for practice, they were greeted by a pair of pinatas hanging from the ceiling. Each player was given the chance to hold a brightly colored stick and swing away. The message – it was time to bust it open.
“I knew they were up to something, and I didn’t quite know what, but I knew it was something for the culture of the team,” Wade said. “(Janel) has done a good job reminding them that conference is where it really matters. As long as we take care of business there, all this other stuff, it matters too, but it doesn’t carry the same weight as that. She’s been helping to reinforce that. Our coaches have been saying that to the team, but she’s been stressing that.”
That’s the player Wade inherited when she took the job in August, although there was no guarantee Janel would be on the roster when she arrived.
With her undergraduate degree complete and the flexibility of transferring as a graduate student, Janel would likely have been a welcome addition to any softball program in the country. A five-tool player, capable of playing nearly any infield position while also pitching would have been a hot commodity.
Even as things changed around her, Janel’s unwavering love for Wilmington, UNCW and her teammates remained.
“Growing up in travel ball, kids switched from teams all the time. I was like, ‘Why would you pick a team to be on and then leave it so many times?’ That was one thing I wanted to do in college was to love it even if we didn’t succeed,” Janel said. “The relationships we’ve built are incredible. Last year and this year have been the most fun years of my life playing softball because of the relationships.”
Those relationships were cemented the moment a coaching change was announced. Players got on the phone with each other, stressing the importance of sticking together.
The program had just reached a championship level for the first time in school history, and with so many returning pieces, there was reason to believe continued success was around the corner.
So, they made a decision to stay together. And Wade wasted no time in working to build trust between the new staff and the players.
As part of her introduction, she agreed to meet with every player at a place on the UNCW campus that was special to them. It didn’t matter where, she would be there.
Directions, however, would be required.
“Janel said, ‘You can find me under the really pretty tree on campus.’ I said, ‘I’m going to need a little more help than that because there’s a lot of trees on this campus and a lot of them are beautiful,’” Wade joked.
They ended up meeting underneath the large tree just outside the Nixon Annex near Trask Coliseum. Wade learned about Janel’s family history with the diamond, her journey to UNCW and her love for Wilmington. As workouts started, she got to see the player who is willing to do anything to help her team win.
Stats on a computer screen gave her insight into what kind of athlete she had, but they don’t tell the story about the person.
“One of the things about her is she’s not the most vocal leader. She’s very much a lead by example and she goes about her business and does things in a way and shows people what that looks like to think at a high level and play at a high level,” Wade said. “To have that in a (graduate student) coming back is a really cool thing.”
Forever connected
Janel Gamache will forever be a part of UNCW softball.
She will be listed on the roster who helped the Seahawks win their first conference title and reach the NCAA Tournament.
Her name will be scattered throughout the UNCW record book. As of right now, she ranks top 15 in 11 different categories, including hits, RBI, doubles, home runs and slugging percentage.
Reminders of her will be there. But when she leaves Boseman Field for the last time, she will always be reminded of it as well.
Following UNCW’s championship run last spring, Janel and four other individuals with the program made a decision on the bus ride home that they would commemorate the moment by getting tattoos. After much discussion, it was decided everyone would each get the geographical coordinators to the spot on the field that was most special to them.
“I got the batter’s box. I just felt like that was the place I was most myself in the game of softball,” Janel said, noting it was her first time getting inked. “It was just really special that everyone got their unique place on the field and I got to pick where I felt happiest.”
While digging in at the plate is where she’d like to be, Janel is committed to doing whatever it takes to help UNCW return to form, starting with this weekend’s CAA-opening series against Towson. The Seahawks enter the three-game set with four losses in the last five outings but were predicted by the league’s coaches to win the conference title this spring.
What’s happened so far hasn’t been exactly how anyone in teal planned for things to go, but it’s what happens now that determines everything.
“I think it has humbled us and really set a fire with us because we want that extra drive to win and I know we have it,” Janel said. “It’s going to come through for us and we’re going to have a big year I think.”
And what does that mean for her? Despite being a league leader in multiple offensive categories last year, Janel was snubbed for all-conference awards at the conclusion of the regular season.
Did it fire her up? She admits it did a little.
But, as expected, the ultimate team player isn’t harping on it. Though she’s back among the CAA leaders in nearly every offensive category, end-of-year honors are an added bonus, but not the focus. Instead, she’s focused on finishing with another trophy in hand. That’s what matters most.
“The best accolade is a CAA championship. I don’t really look at that small stuff a lot,” she said.