By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – Sophia Torreso, one of Bristol Central’s tremendous softball pitching duo that also includes the equally impressive Alex Sciarretto, was bound to play softball at the collegiate level.

She’s shown tremendous ability starting as far back as her Bristol Girls Little League Softball days and coming into this scholastic season, Torreso and her teammates could be poised to do something very big.

Her passion, her dedication to the sport and her tremendous work ethic has put Torreso in a remarkable position to continue to play the sport she loves. 

And Torreso is going to be applying her trade at The George Washington University next year – at the NCAA Division I level.

She made that decision official on November 9 when she signed her National Letter of Intent from the Charles C. Marsh Gymnasium on the campus of BCHS. 

Central principal Pete Wininger was impressed by Torreso, who splayed three sports as a freshman, later narrowed her athletic choice to softball and absolutely dedicated herself to the sport and the program at BCHS.

“To think about having to just concentrate on one sport and where you are, is a testament to your hard work,” said Wininger to Torreso. “One of the hardest things to do is to throw a softball underhand at a high rate of speed. And to improve from where you started to where you are [is impressive].”

Torreso, from all the videos she posts on Twitter, practices her craft all the time which includes late throwing sessions in her basement, showing the dedication to herself, the sport, and the teams she plays for.

And Torreso could have gone down many different directions in terms of sports she could have concentrated on scholastically.

Her mother, Ginny Torreso, and uncle Todd Ziogas were standout basketball players at Pace University in New York while Sophie’s father played football.

Sister Gwen competed on three sports teams and the entire Ziogas family was athletically inclined.

Eventually, softball was the path Torreso chose and in terms of individual and team success, it was a tremendous decision.

“The George Washington University is getting a mature student athlete,” said Central softball coach Monica Hayes. “When I heard you were going there and you told me, I was thinking she was one of the most mature kids that I’ve ever coached and that we have in school. You possess so many qualities that make you very marketable as a student athlete.”

Central’s run to the Class LL title game last year was remarkable and by the completion of the season, Torreso earned Class LL All-State from the Connecticut High School Coaches Association.

Throwing over 70 innings last season, Torreso posted 145 strikeouts and carried an ERA of 1.66 before the Class LL championship game against Southington.

A typical game, like Central’s 6-1 win over Wolcott back on May 12, the chucker fanned an amazing 15 batters to lead her team.

She also plays for the RI Thunder 18U National team and had suitors all over the place when starting her collegiate search, including a couple Ivy League options.

But in the end, The George Washington University Women’s softball program was the perfect fit and after what should be another banner year for the Rams in 2023, the Colonials will be getting a sensational player looking to excel at the collegiate level.

“You’ve got a team first attitude, no matter what your goal is, whether you’re pitching or playing first base, you’re hitting or on the bench, whatever hat you were wearing at the time, you are continuously supportive to your teammates,” said Hayes. “And that helps you no matter where you are or what sport you’re playing or what you’re doing in life.”

Torreso and Sciarretto were both CCC South All-Conference performers over the last two seasons, with the Rams going a sterling 22-5 in 2022 and made it all the way to the Class LL championship game.

She has superior time management skills according to Hayes which should be extremely helpful when navigating collegiate life.

Torreso is such a dedicated individual, putting her school and team first in many circumstances and she’s certainly is a model citizens others should emulate.

“I think, I noticed this when you played basketball for two years, not being afraid to miss a shot, and on a greater scale not being afraid of a big moment and that’s going to benefit you no matter what your career choice is,” said Hayes of Torreso. “So for the next four years playing softball, it’s going to be beneficial but that’s only going to continue to increase with her being able to handle these situations.”

Hayes also confirmed that Torreso spends a lot of time working on her craft in her basement and those extra reps have paid off with her acceptance at The George Washington University.

“That’s where you see a lot of the dedication and hard work that Sophia has put in,” said Hayes of Torreso’s basement sessions. “That place has made you a lot of who you are as a player today and that’s a lot of the dedication that they don’t see.”

There’s plenty of softball that’s going to be played between now and Torreso traveling down to Washington D.C. to compete on the collegiate level.

“You’re coachable, you were highly sought after,” said Hayes of Torreso. “No matter what your role is on that team, George Washington is going to enjoy having you as a person, as a student athlete. Not everybody gets to go to college and get a degree and also pursue a passion of pitching, of playing softball at the same time.”

“And you’ve created that opportunity through everything you’ve set out to do.”