If Taylor Wolfgang had the opportunity to go back and pick another position to play besides catcher, she wouldn’t do it.

Not even with the torn medial collateral ligament she suffered prior to her sophomore season with the Fitch High School softball team. Not even with the fractured wrist she toughed out as a junior.

“I may be a little biased, but you have such control over the game,” Wolfgang said. “You’re touching the ball every single time. It’s such a commanding position. It does put a hurt on the body.”

Those are the worst things that happened to Wolfgang in her four seasons as Fitch’s starting catcher. There were a lot of best things, too: the Falcons’ three state championship game appearances, two state titles and Class L all-state selections for Wolfgang as a sophomore, junior and senior.

Wolfgang, who began catching to emulate her brother Zach, a member of Fitch’s 2012 state championship baseball team, hit .570 this season with eight home runs and 42 RBI and was named the Connecticut High School Coaches’ Association Position Player of the Year.

Wolfgang, who will continue her playing career next season at Division I Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa., was named The Day’s 2017 All-Area Softball Player of the Year. She follows former Fitch pitcher Caroline Taber, whom she caught for three seasons, in earning the honor.

“I think anyone that has had the chance to really coach Taylor and get to know her, she is definitely a player that you can never forget and a player that you want on your team,” Fitch coach Arielle Cooper said. “She’s silent, but she’s a silent leader and she’s never really doubted herself or the game.

“Aubrey (Latham, assistant coach) and I came up with a slogan. ‘What would Taylor Wolfgang do?’ And that was used quite often.”

Wolfgang came to Fitch with a background in Little League baseball, where she caught, pitched and played shortstop. She started for the varsity softball team beginning her freshman year — having never before caught for Taber — and was immediately entrusted by Cooper, then the interim head coach, to call her own pitches.

The Falcons won the state title, their first of three straight state championship game appearances.

“It was cool,” Wolfgang said of her immediate connection with Taber, who now plays at Princeton. “At certain times I could tell, by the way she gripped the ball or how she was looking, I could tell what pitch she wanted to throw. I would call a curveball and she would say later, ‘Wolfgang, that was the exact pitch I was thinking.’”

On paper, this season appeared to be different for the Falcons, following the graduation of Taber. Only, the cohesion of Fitch’s seven seniors and their will to win said differently. Wolfgang, instead, caught fellow senior and former first baseman Jayden Delaporta.

After a rough start defensively, the Falcons finished 21-7, winning 11 straight games headed into the Class L state tournament semifinals, where they were halted by Joel Barlow 6-5, one game shy of a fourth straight berth in the championship game. Fitch, which won the Eastern Connecticut Conference tournament title, was ranked ninth in the final GameTimeCT /New Haven Register Top 10 Poll.

“We came in with so much negativity and adversity. It just lit a fire in us,” Wolfgang said. “Everyone wanted the same goal in the end. We knew if for any second we doubted, that would ruin this bond and this family. I think that was one of the beauties of this team. … We knew any at-bat or any fielding position, once we were between the white lines we couldn’t take it for granted.”

Wolfgang rang up 53 hits this season, 24 for extra bases, and walked 20 times, giving her an on-base percentage of .638. She picked off seven runners. She added to the big moments in her career, which included MVP honors in the 2014 state championship game as a freshman and also a home run in last year’s Class L semifinal victory over Torrington (with a fractured wrist), helping propel the Falcons to another title.

“I’m thankful for the four years I had with her,” Cooper said. “Taylor and this group brought me back to my playing days, people who love the game and appreciate all that comes with it. They put pride and passion back into this community and in Fitch athletics.”

Influenced by parents Jeanne and Eric, whom she grew up watching go to work every day as scientists at Pfizer, Inc., Wolfgang will major in biochemistry and cell microbiology at Bucknell, with the aim of becoming either a cardiologist or a neurosurgeon.

Her only regret? The last four years with her teammates went by much too quickly.

“As athletes, we get granted a second family who we become so close with,” Wolfgang said. “You don’t realize how close you are sometimes until you’re apart from them.”

v.fulkerson@theday.com

The Day's 2017 All-Area Softball Team

Player

of

the

Year - Taylor Wolfgang (Fitch)

Infield - Sara Cote (NFA), Cameron Dreher (Stonington), Abby Flakus (Stonington), Jonell Hobert (Fitch)

Outfield - Miranda Arruda (Stonington), Hailee Schrader (NFA), Cassie Woods (Fitch)

Pitcher - Jayden Delaporta (Fitch), Beth Fleming (NFA)

Catcher - Shea Gendron (NFA)

Designated player - Madison Nott (Waterford)

Utility - Alex Chambers (East Lyme), Ciana Chiappone (Waterford)