Softball team hopes to keep new stride going

By Carl Bialik

COURTESY SPORTS PUBLICITY OFFICE Starting pitcher Teri Hickey, SY '00, leads the Bulldogs' potent pitching staff.

Although the Yale women's softball team is young, it is full of talent and experience. While its record stands at 17-19 (2-2 Ivy), the players are confident that they can win their eight remaining Ivy League games and finish high in the standings. The Ivy champion goes on to the ECAC tournament, and from there may advance to Nationals.

The team heads into a critical weekend. On Sat., Apr. 18, the Elis face Cornell (24-3; 4-0 Ivy), which owns an 18-game winning streak and shares the Ivy League lead with Harvard. On Sun., Apr. 19, Pennsylvania (10-19, 0-4 Ivy) comes to New Haven. The team knows that with two league losses, it cannot afford any slips if it is to win the league title. "Cornell's been doing really well," captain Cory Nakata, PC '99, said. "It's going to be a real test for us." First baseman Monica Lebron, TC '01, added, "Pressure is added for an Ivy League game."

That pressure was a major factor last week when the Elis dropped a doubleheader to the Cantabs on Fri., Apr. 10. "Harvard's a good team," Hickey said. "But it was just an off day for us. We had quite a few defensive errors. If we had a rematch with them I think we'd definitely sweep them."

Despite their performance against Harvard, the Bulldogs have been on a roll of late, having swept Fordham, Dartmouth, and Central Connecticut. The streak was highlighted by starting pitcher Teri Hickey's, SY '00, 3-0 complete-game shutout and Haley Flynn's, DC '00, first career home run at Hanover on Sat., Apr. 11, as well as Kristen Maturo's, MC '01, record-tying 11th season double.

Defensive errors were frequent in this season's slow start, which included a six-game losing streak. The team suffered from poor performances under pressure. "Clutch hitting has been a problem all season, until recently. We've had a lot of well-hit balls in the clutch that haven't been able to get their way through the defense," Maturo said.

"The beginning of the season was more of a warmup," Lebron said. The team uses the early season to work on overcoming problems, with the goal of peaking in time for Ivies. So far, the plan seems to be working. "I'm really excited for the rest of the season; our team has shown great improvement, especially in defense and clutch hits," Hickey said.

The team's inexperience was not a major reason for its slow start. Even though the squad has two juniors and no seniors, the freshmen have made immediate contributions. "Last year we graduated five seniors. This year we have five freshmen who play the same positions as the seniors who graduated. It worked out well," pitcher Khelia Johnson, PC '00, noted.

Lebron has been especially valuable to the team. "She's doing a great job in the batting lineup, getting sacrifice hits, slap hits, clutch hits. She's been very instrumental," Hickey said. Maturo and Alice Liu, SY '01, who starts in center field, have also made major contributions. Maturo started the season in the outfield, but recently switched positions with catcher Carlie Ware, SM '99, to take advantage of Ware's outfield skills. "Carlie's been playing really well in right field," Maturo, who had played catcher in high school, explained that, "Catching is not that difficult once you're used to the pitchers."

The first-base position also received a boost since Lebron has recently moved there from the outfield. Like Maturo, she had no difficulty switching positions, having played both before in her long softball career. Lebron does not think that the team's relative youth has had adverse effects on the team's level of play. "I don't think youth should play a role. We've all played softball for almost all our lives," she said.

The predominantly sophomore pitching staff has given Yale a measure of stability. "The team's pitching has been very good so far this year," Johnson said. "It's basically the same staff as last year. We kind of know what to expect."

The staff will be bolstered by Hickey's return to form. She was the ace of the staff last year, going 17-8 with a 1.94 ERA, but as she noted, "I wasn't at my best at the beginning of the year. Last summer, I dislocated my kneecap playing softball and had to have surgery." She has been in physical therapy and has started a game in each of the team's last two doubleheaders.

Despite the team's lukewarm start, Hickey feels steady improvement. "Last year we started the season off very explosively, but by the time the Ivies rolled around, things went downhill," she recalled. "This year we started off a little rocky and now we're headed in the winning direction." This makes the players excited for next year, when all of this year's squad will be returning. "We're heading upwards," Nakata said. "For now, we hope that will help us against Cornell."

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