In the first three days of their season, the women’s softball team won one out of seven games in Clermont, Fla.
“We definitely didn’t play as well as we had planned,” said senior second baseman Miriam McKay. “But there were bright moments where we played up to our potential and we’re going to take those bright moments into our regular season.”
Thursday, the Chargers lost 4-0 to Lewis, followed by a five-inning 17-1 defeat by the University of Southern New Hampshire.
Friday, the team lost 7-1 to Concordia (NY) and 7-6 to West Virginia Wesleyan.
Saturday, they lost 8-2 to Mt. Vernon Nazarene and 5-0 to Winona State, but defeated Lourdes 16-1.
Four of the teams that Hillsdale played in Florida were NCAA qualifiers last year; however, they also lost to two teams – Concordia and Mt. Vernon Nazarene – that Hillsdale needs to defeat in order to prove competitive in the region, head coach Joe Abraham said.
“We were only there for three days,” Abraham said. “We didn’t score many runs, but we hit a little better than the scores indicate. We just left so many runners on base. We need to be able to bring them home and we just failed at that over and over and over.”
The team’s difficulties were partly due to inclimate Michigan weather which has prevented them from practicing outdoors. Thursday marked the second time that the Chargers were able to play outdoors and the first time they were able to play on a softball field since October, Abraham said.
“It’s very difficult and most of the teams we’ve been playing have been outside,” McKay said. “It’s not an excuse at all, but it’s a hard transition to make. The surface is completely different. It’s very hard for the outfielders to work.”
Abraham is unsure if the team will be able to practice outdoors before their next game on Thursday, March 21 against Notre Dame of Ohio.
Highlights of last week’s games include the Charger’s 16-1 victory over Lourdes. Over the course of the game, 11 different players had hits, and five secured multiple hits.
Players who secured multiple hits included freshman Ainsley Ellison, who scored three runs and went 2-for-2 in the Lourdes game. She was the leading hitter through all seven games and hit around .600.
“She was fantastic,” Abraham said. “She kept getting on base and we kept stranding her out there.”
During the Lourdes game, sophomore Jenny Bals had a career-high three hits, scored twice and drove in three runs. Senior Taylor Schulty went 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs. She also hit over .500 over the course of the week.
The Chargers also performed well in the game against West Virginia Wesleyan – a nationally-ranked team – making a significant comeback after falling behind 5-0 in the top of the first inning. But the other team scored five runs, outscoring the Chargers through the game’s last six innings.
The team’s five freshmen and two transfers played well their first time out, McKay said.
“A lot of them really stepped up and filled big roles,” McKay said. “They fit into the team nicely and will continue to grow throughout the season.”
The freshman standouts included Ellison and freshman catcher and third baseman Danielle Garceau, who was injured and had to sit out during the trip’s later games, Abraham said.
“We’re coming off of a winning season, so [the team’s] confidence is fine. Mentally we played pretty well down there, we didn’t lose any games over mental errors,” Abraham said. “But we’ll never get used to being 1 and 6.”
