Softball: Red-hot Elis get ready for Harvard and the rest of the league

JULIA TIERNAN/YH The softball team will look to its pitching to beat Harvard.

Yale has been somewhat inconsistent in the early part of the year, but things are starting to gel. "At first, one day hitting was good, but pitching and defense weren't, and then another day pitching was good but the other two weren't," Lebron explained. "Now everything's coming together and we're playing well as an entire team."

The squad practiced through the winter. The team began 6 a.m. practices in February and is now benefitting from all those sleepless mornings. "I think our strengths right now are pitching and clutch hitting," outfielder Kendra Fleming, ES '99, said. "We've really been working on that in practice."

The pitchers have focused on power and placement, two essentials the team needs to shut down the Cantabs. "We're working hard to keep our pitches to the corners of the plate instead of just over the center," pitcher Teri Hickey, SY '00, explained. "We've also been working on keeping our legs strong. That's what keeps you going throughout the game."

These adjustments could carry the Elis to the Ivy league title. With the return of nearly all of last year's team, including six All-Ivy selections, and the addition of five strong freshmen, the Elis seem well prepared to reach their ultimate goals: an Ivy League championship and a berth at regionals. "Basically, if you don't win Ivies, the season is over," Lebron said. It seems, however, that the team has only just begun.

--Alison Morris

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