Softball starts season undefeated
By Jared Bell
IV Leader Sports Editor
While most students were doing a variety of different things
over Spring Break, the softball team was busying doing what they have done a lot
lately: winning.
After a 7-0 start to last season, the team went 3-0 on their
annual March trip, backed by a solid pitching effort and more than enough
offense.
“We started the season very well; much better than what we
thought we were going to see out of our players,” softball coach Cory Tomasson
said.
The star of the trip may have been the pitching staff. Ace
Amy Abbott allowed only two runs in her 12 innings (1.17 ERA), while holding
opponents to a .195 batting average as she picked up a pair of wins.
“She’s hitting her spots, her pitches are working for her and
she is getting more aggressive with her pitches,” Tomasson said of the
sophomore. “She’s really throwing well.”
Fellow sophomore Jessica Politsch was even better as she did
not allow a single run in her eight innings in the circle as she picked up the
other victory. She held opponents to a .120 team batting average.
“Once she finds her groveand she gets more comfortable, she’s
been hitting her spots,” Tomasson said. “She threw really well and if she can
keep that up throughout the year, we should do well pitching wise.”
Sophomores Cassie Kelley and Kalie Judge led the team
offensively as each batted over .500 on the trip.
Kelley was 4-for-7 (.571) and scored four runs, while Judge finished 5-for-9
(.556) on the trip, scored five runs and drew three walks.
Sophomore Stephanie Prokup and freshman Amanda Gargantiel
turned in solid performances as each went 4-for-9 on the trip.
Amber Pescitelli went 2-for-5 on the trip with a double and a run scored.
Jessica Politsch’s double was the only other extra-base hit on the trip.
For the entire trip, the team batted .375 (30-for-80) and
scored 26 runs.
The team started their trip with a pair of exhibition games
against four-year colleges. The team dropped both of those contests, with the
first defeat coming to Grove City College from Pennsylvania.
In the season-opener, nerves were an even bigger factor than
the opponent as first-game jitters caused numerous miscues that resulted in some
costly unearned runs.
“Our players were really nervous,” Tomasson said. “They were
really nervous and you could see that in the errors that we made. I think we had
four or five errors. It wasn’t any environmental things; they just had to settle
down.”
With the nerves settled, the team played much improved ball
in their second contest against Adrian College, which is a four-year school from
Michigan. The team dropped the game 2-1 but not without some dramatics. The
game-changing play came when Washeleski smoked a bullet up the middle, but the
Adrian pitcher luckily grabbed the ball out of midair, saving two runs and
ultimately the game.
“That was a good showing for us,” Tomasson said. “We weren’t
as nervous.”
With the two unofficial games out of the way, the team took
care of business in their third game of the trip as they rolled to a 19-1 win
over Monroe College from New York State.
The started a little slow offensively but scored 13 runs in
the fourth inning and never looked back. Every player who played in the game
recorded a hit or scored a run, while Abbott controlled the game on the rubber.
“The first inning we were shaky, but after that we just tore
runs off,” Tomasson said. “Anything (our hitters) touched was a hit. They didn’t
have a lot of errors on their team — in fact they only had two errors — but we
just played well. The players had good eyes at bat and they took a lot of walks.
They did a great job of being patient and settling down. You could just see the
nerves settling down.”
Tomasson said one of the reasons the team prevailed was due
to their stellar defensive work.
“We actually had no errors that game, which for us was
amazing,” Tomasson said. “They hit the ball, but we did a really good job of
fielding in that game.”
The team ended their trip with a pair of wins as they swept a
doubleheader against Penn State Hazleton.
The team walked away with a 5-1 win in the first game, backed
by a strong outing from Abbott as she allowed one run.
“(Amy) just dominated that game,” Tomasson said. “She looked
good.
Politsch delivered a shutout in the second game as IVCC won
3-0 to improve to 3-0 on the year. In the game, Hazleton on registered three
hits in seven innings against Politsch while the team mustered up enough
offense.
The team travels March 23 to Sauk Valley and hits the road
again March 28 for a match-up against Carl Sandburg.
The team’s next home contest is March 30 against Kishwaukee
before another two-game road trip.