The Hillsdale College softball team finished 2-3 at the Lewis Flyer Dome Classic in Rosemont, Illinois this past weekend.
The Chargers competed against 5 regional teams, beating Lewis University and Ashland University, but falling to Northwood University, Grand Valley State University, and Saginaw Valley State University.
After losing all six games at this invitational last year, the Chargers improved, winning their first game 2-1.
“It was a really great way to start the weekend,” senior outfielder Natalie Stepanenko said. “Thinking back to last year, that was our first outing as a team. Starting the season 0-5 did not put our best foot forward, so it was nice to get a couple of wins, especially that first weekend.”
Head coach Kyle Gross said he saw great performances from all of the players over the course of their weekend.
“I involved the entire roster throughout the weekend,” Gross said. “So down the road, if younger players get put in high pressure situations, they would have seen something like that before.”
Junior pitcher Camryn Olson, coming off of a shoulder injury, pitched for the first time since May 2019.
“I was extremely nervous at first, but it felt really good to be back on the mound,” Olson said. “After the first inning, I was able to get my nerves out and just have a lot of fun being out there with my teammates again.”
Gross said being able to add Olson back to the pitching staff helped to round out the team again.
“She was able to step back in there and be successful,” Gross said. “We were very happy with her performance, and that’s a huge lift to our whole staff.”
Looking at the weekend’s outcome, Gross emphasized that the team needs to focus and establish consistency.
“We were inconsistent last weekend on defense, and we’re a little inconsistent with our hitting right now,” he said. “So it’s back to the lab again to try and recreate some pressure situations to get them ready for those moments in games.”
Despite those inconsistencies, Stepanenko said that the team was still in a very good place, and was right on track for the season.
“We’re still putting all the pieces together, but it’s the beginning of the season and we have a lot of time, so none of us are really worried,” Stepanenko said. “Some of the seniors were comparing this season to years before. We’re at the point in our gameplay that we usually don’t reach until April, so the fact that we’re getting there two months earlier is really exciting.”
