The Oberlin Review
<< Front page Sports April 13, 2007

Softball Team Catch Rays and Wins in Florida

The Oberlin softball team was excited and eager to get its 2007 season started as the team traveled to Fort Myers, Florida to compete against DePauw, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Colby, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, University of Southern Maine, Middlebury College and Union College.

Overall, the trip was considered a success by Head Coach Adrienne Davis: “I am beyond happy with the way the team performed in Florida&hellip;the improvements that this team [has] made since last year are unbelievable.”

On March 25, in their very first match up of the season, the Yeowomen faced the undefeated Tigers of DePauw University. The Tigers scored eight runs and went on to defeat Oberlin 8-0.

In the second match-up of the day, the Yeowomen found themselves against State University of New York-Potsdam. Junior Spencer McCaffrey shined for Oberlin offensively on that day. McCaffrey was 2-4 from the plate with a double and two RBIs. Despite their effort, Oberlin lost a close one to Potsdam 7-9.

On day two, the Yeowomen played another double-header. Outstanding offensive play against the Engineers of MIT ushered the team to its first win of the season, 9-4. Later that day, Southern Maine defeated Oberlin, 1-11.

Against MIT, first-year outfielder Sophie Schacht led the Yeowomen as she hit 3-3, while McCaffrey went 1-1. Sophomore pitcher Michelle Zanni was outstanding on the mound, throwing all seven innings and striking out four, giving up just one run earned.

Oberlin continued to fight throughout the remaining games in Florida, but struggled to keep rolling after its victory over MIT. During the next couple of games, Oberlin faced tough opponents in Union and Middlebury. The Yeowomen battled in a morning match up against Union, but fell 0-12 in the match.

In the afternoon, Oberlin played great offensively, but struggled on the defensive end, falling to Middlebury 2-14. On the offensive side, first-year Lauren Luther paced the team by going 2-3, while Schacht went 2-3 with a walk.

Oberlin had another tough task ahead of it as the team bumped heads with Wisconsin-Whitewater and Colby. Unfortunately, the Yeowomen fell in both match-ups, falling to Wisconsin-Whitewater 0-12 and Colby 1-8. Despite the loss, first-year Nora Granahan went 4-5 on the day; sophomore Sophie Simon-Ortiz was 2-3.

The Yeowomen finished up their last couple of match ups in Florida, meeting opponents Colby and SUNY-Potsdam yet again. In the game against Colby, Oberlin had a pair of great individual performances by Luther and Schacht — each went 2-3 from the plate. In the end, it was not enough as they fell to Colby 5-14. The highlight of the game for the Yeowomen was sophomore Leah Pine’s home run. Oberlin went on to fall to SUNY-Potsdam 3-8 later in the day.

Back home and in its first conference match-up against the Gators of Allegheny College, Oberlin lost in both games 1-9 and 0-12. The Yeowomen jumped behind the offensive boost by junior outfielder Ashley Gorham, who went 2-3 on the day. Junior Abby Bodenlos had a great performance for the Gators, going 5-8 with four stolen bases.

The next day, Oberlin battled in a double hitter against non-conference opponent Myers College, coming up short with a 1-2 loss. In the first game, Simon-Ortiz threw for seven innings, giving up one earned run and striking out five. McCaffrey led the Yeowomen on offense, going 2-3 with a pair of stolen bases.

In the second game, Oberlin lost 9-16 with a great offensive effort from first-year Julia Chauvin. Chauvin went 2-4 with a homerun, three runs scored and four RBIs. Pine and first-year Nora Granahan each had two base hits for Oberlin. 

Unfortunately for the Yeowomen, many games have been moved from their original dates because of the terrible weather over the last few weeks.

“We’ve had a lot of games cancelled and postponed because of the weather, which is really devastating to the team because they want to play so badly,” said Davis. “But at the same time, since each game we play is a rare commodity, everyone is even more ready to come out ready to go.”

Due to the recent weather, tomorrow’s game at Hiram has been rescheduled for Sunday, April 22; the game against Kenyon College will take place at home today instead of Saturday; and last week’s game against Ohio Wesleyan has been rescheduled for Sunday, April 15.


 
 
   

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