Sadira Forcucci was an All-State softball player who graduated in 2025 from West Hartford’s Conard High School, and is continuing to excel as a student-athlete at Fordham University. 

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

Faith. Family. Fundamentals. Those are three of the things that Conard grad Sadira Forcucci uses to guide her as she continues her softball career at Fordham University.

She was a two-time All-State selection with the Red Wolves and was named All-CCC in her sophomore, junior and senior seasons. This past spring playing for the Rams she continued to excel being named Second-Team NFCA All-Northeast Region, Second Team All-Atlantic 10, and to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team. She finished second on the team with a .344 (52-151) batting average, led the team with nine home runs and 46 RBI, and led the A-10 in RBI, and was third in home runs. Not bad for someone who said she had to take some time to figure out her role with the team.

“On paper it looks like I had dream season, but it took a lot for me to understand my role on the team,” she said. “In pre-season I was batting fourth and was thrown into a big role and I didn’t understand the role. At the start I didn’t have a lot of confidence, then I realized they just needed me to be myself and that’s who they needed and wanted me to be.”

Forcucci started in 49 of the team’s 53 games and played multiple positions. “I played second, third, and right field when we had some injuries. I also DH’d, too.”

Breaking down those numbers, she played 21 games at second, 16 at third, four in right field, and eight as the DH. As an infielder, Forcucci committed just four errors handling 114 chances, for a .965 fielding percentage. “My travel softball experience, and playing against a lot of D1-level players, really prepared me for college. My coaches at Fordham are amazing and all my teammate are great people. I really clicked with my teammates,” she added. “The biggest challenge was balancing playing and education but there is a lot of support at school and from my teammates.”

She also has big supporters in her parents. Her mother and father actually became her first coaches in t-ball and she spent the first five-plus years of her life watching baseball at a legendary stadium. “We lived two blocks from Fenway Park (in Boston) growing up and both my parents took me to a lot of games.”

If that wasn’t enough, her dad Frank was a baseball player at University of New Haven and played semi-pro ball. Being at Fordham is also something of a family tradition as her dad spent time there as an assistant coach for Fordham football. “My dad is my biggest influence in my sports and kind of in my life,” Forcucci said. “I call him every day. During my recruiting time he helped me with a lot of things. He’s never pressured me to be anything I didn’t want to be. He just supports me.”

She also credits her Conard coaches as well as her travel ball and Fordham coaching staff for helping her develop into the player and person that she is.

One of the biggest moments from her freshman season came as the Rams made a run in the A-10 Conference Tournament and won it all, earning an automatic NCAA Tourney bid. In the clinching game, Forcucci hit a home run and drove in two runs. “One of the best parts of the season was winning the A-10 and the moment we ran out to hug each other. We didn’t know if we were gonna even make the tournament, then we won four in a row. We kept grinding and it all paid off in the end,” Forcucci said.

She also told a story when asked if she has any superstitions. “My left batting glove goes on first. I had some fun ones that I picked up at end of season. I put my jersey on backwards (under a warmup shirt) against St Joe’s who was the number 2 seed in the A-10 Tournament. We ended up winning so I put my jersey on backward and we didn’t lose from there.”

She also relies on her faith. “I pray before every game, too.”

Forcucci spent the early part of the summer playing in a league in Boston and is back in West Hartford now helping coach her sisters 14-under softball team. She is also thinking ahead to next season at Fordham after finding her voice in her freshman season.

Forcucci is looking forward to becoming more of a leader, especially to the incoming freshmen on the team. “I’m really excited to bring what worked on from last season into this season. Last year we were trying to figure out a lot of things.”

As for life in the Bronx, Forcucci called herself a “city girl” and feels that she found the right place to be. “It’s a family and I am a family-oriented person. The “Ramily” is what we call it. It’s a great academic school, beautiful campus, and everybody is one big family. I appreciate it.”

The business administration major wants to do a sports concentration. Looking back, she said she would not change anything that has led her to where she is in her life. “I would tell my 10- year-old self to keep being myself because that’s what got me to any point of success. Everything that has happened was for a reason,” she said. “Keep trusting God’s plan for me and don’t set goals to far ahead, keep my motivation to just being the best one on the field,” Forcucci said.

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