MARBLEHEAD — Over the last four years, Marblehead’s Tessa Andriano has been making a name for herself in more ways than one. The two-sport captain (basketball and softball) is ready to represent the Red and Black for one more season ahead of graduation. 

Andriano spoke about how much she’s enjoyed her athletic experience, and the support she’s received.

“Everyone in the Marblehead community — for both sports — has been super supportive and is always trying to get us to do our best, whether it’s our coaches, teammates, the athletic directors, or just people in our school. They’re all rooting for us,” Andriano said. “Espeically being on both teams all four years, seeing the growth in each of the teams, between me, my teammates, and the programs, it’s been great to see.” 

She believes it’s important to play more than one sport.

“I think it’s really important. Personally, I know if I continued to play one sport the entire year, I would get really bored and burnt out from it. I did AAU basketball for a really long time, but I made sure I played softball in the spring so I could have that break.”

Iron sharpens iron, too.

“Playing softball helps with my reaction time and the quickness and agility that you need, I think that definitely helped me in basketball,” Andriano said. “I also have to be aware of my surroundings in softball, which I think helps me see the court better and be able to anticipate things quicker.” 

Andriano, who averaged 11 points, 8.8 rebounds, and three assists per game “when all the focus was on her,” according to girls basketball coach Paul Moran, said she’s become more of a leader.

“My freshman year, I was definitely a lot more quiet in both sports. I was kind of scared of the seniors, as you’d normally be. I didn’t really want to speak up or feel out of place,” Andriano said. “Throughout the years, I found more of my voice and more of a leadership role. … Also, helping my teammates by telling them what to do and making sure everyone is working hard. Especially since I’m a captain in both sports this year, it’s just more responsibilities.”

On Monday, Andriano and her softball teammates began another season. Andriano is one of eight seniors on a Marblehead team primed for a big spring.

“We’ve been playing together since sixth grade and we’re a really close-knit group of girls. We all love each other and I think it’s the most connected team I have ever been on,” Andriano said. “I feel like, in softball, we’re very connected with the coaches, too, and can talk to them about anything. We have the talent and the effort to go really far this year.”

Two years ago, Andriano and the Magicians reached the Final 4 as the No. 9 seed. 

“That Final 4 year, we were really motivated from (assistant coach) Todd’s (Norman) passing. I think that’s when our team got really close. We would spend every day together after that and we knew we had a goal and we wanted to get it for him,” she said. “We knew that he would want us to play hard and win for him.” 

When asked about her favorite athletic memory, that Elite 8 upset was atop Andriano’s list.

“I would definitely say making the Final 4. We played the No. 1 seed (Silver Lake Regional), which only had two losses that season. We were pretty scared playing that team, but we came in motivated and we beat them to get to the Final 4.”