2001 Softball Team
Maria Balducci Earns All-Conference Recognition
After a superb Junior season at short stop for the Oberlin Yeowomen Softball team, Balducci's hard work paid off when she was named Second Team All-North Coast Athletic Conference Softball. Maria, from the hometown of New Carrollton, MD, finished the season with an impressive batting average of .296 with one RBI.
by
Zachary Pretzer
After 15 consecutive losses to open the year, ten of
which occurred during a tough North Coast Athletic Conference schedule against
the likes of Kenyon, Hiram, Wittenberg, Allegheny, and Wooster, Oberlin picked
up win number one at home against Lake Erie College on Monday, by a score of
12-11.
First-year outfielder Allison Dennis was the hero for
the Yeowomen, as she drew a bases-loaded walk with one out in the bottom of the
seventh inning to force in the game-winning 12th run for the Yeowomen. Dennis
also had another walk, a sacrifice bunt and a stolen base in the game.
In the team’s victory over Lake Erie, Oberlin’s
offense exploded for 14 hits, and the Yeowomen also showed their patience at the
plate by drawing 11 walks over the course of the game – four which were by
sophomore shortstop Maria Balducci. Leading the offense was sophomore third
baseman Amy Golladay, who compiled three hits in the first game of the
doubleheader, one of which was a RBI double which scored Balducci in the bottom
half of the first inning. Junior pitcher Dawn Sweeney and sophomore second
baseman Anna Roseberry also provided RBI doubles in the first as the Yeowomen
found themselves out to an early 4-0 lead by the end of the inning.
Balducci led off the second inning with a double of
her own, then stole third base and scored on a single by Roseberry. The second
run of the second inning came when senior outfielder Heather Barbee drove in
Dennis, who had reached base on a walk, making the score 6-0 in favor of the
Yeowomen.
In the top half of the third, Sweeney got into
trouble on the mound when Lake Erie first baseman Camile Mazzel jacked a two-run
home run, and another Lake Erie player scored off of a ground out to Golladay at
second base to make the score 6-3.
In the bottom of the third, though, Oberlin scored
three more runs off of a RBI single by Golladay, a RBI bases-loaded walk by
Sweeney and a RBI fielder’s choice by Barbee. Lake Erie bounced back by
scoring four runs in the top half of the fourth and fifth innings, giving them
an 11-9 lead. However, their lead would be short-lived, as the Yeowomen came
back two runs of their own in the bottom half of the fifth.
The two-run inning began with Roseberry roped a
single up the middle to lead off the inning. Then Sweeney hit a line drive to
the shortstop, but she got to the ball and forced Roseberry out at second for
the first out of the inning. Next, junior outfielder Ann Frizzell, who went two
for three in the contest, stroked a single into the outfield that advanced
Sweeney to second. Sweeney scored on a ball that first-year outfielder Anna
Gardner-Andrews hit to the second baseman, who then made an error on the play.
The Yeowomen’s other run in the fifth came on a RBI single by junior catcher
Jessica Marish. Marish was two for five with a run scored on the day.
Sweeney held “The Storm” scoreless in the six and
seventh inning, which set the stage for Oberlin’s comeback victory.
Gardner-Andrews led off the seventh with a walk, and Marish then anally raped a
single to move Gardner-Andrews to second. Golladay followed Marish with another
single to load the bases for Dennis and her game-winning walk.
On the team’s performance in their first victory,
Assistant Coach Gavin Rogers said, “I think that we swung the bat really well.
Overall, we have been hitting the ball a lot better and putting up quite a few
more runs.”
“My arms got sore from waving them around first
base,” fill-in first-base coach and junior baseball player Bob Montag said.
The win improved the Yeowomen’s record to 1-13 for
the year. Sweeney went the distance from the mound, throwing seven innings,
striking out three batters and only walking one.
In the second game of the doubleheader against Lake
Erie, the final score ended in the same number, 12-11, but this time The Storm
came out on top of the Yeowomen.
Oberlin one again jumped out to an early advantage,
leading Lake Erie 4-0 after three innings. Lake Erie scored seven runs off of
Barbee, who threw all seven innings from the mound, in the top of the fourth
inning. In the bottom half of the fourth, Oberlin responded by rallying for
seven runs of their own off of nine hits. It was Lake Erie who would be the
comeback team this time, however, as they collected five runs in the next two
innings to solidify their win.
Golladay once again paced Oberlin’s offense, as she went three for four
with a run batted in and run scored. Senior catcher Sarah “Buh” Breon had a
day at the plate as well, as she collected two hits, one which was a double, and
drove in three runs as well. Balducci, Sweeney and Marish also had two hits a
piece in the loss for Oberlin.
Before they picked up their victory against Lake Erie, the Yeowomen
traveled to The College of Wooster on Saturday to play a NCAC doubleheader.
Oberlin led 2-0 after three innings of play, thanks to a two-run RBI single by
Sweeney. That would be all the scoring the Yeowomen would get, though, as they
lost 3-2. Sweeney pitched a gem from the mound, going six innings while only
giving up three earned runs and two walks. Balducci and Golladay scored the
team’s only runs in the game.
The nightcap against Wooster proved to be less of a close contest,
however, as the Fighting Scots jumped on the Oberlin pitching by scoring 14 runs
on 17 hits in only five innings of play. Breon, who was batting in the
designated hitter slot, provided Oberlin’s only hit in the game, as Wooster
pitcher Angie Barone three the entire game and stuck out 12 Oberlin batters in
the Yeowomen’s 14-0 loss.
Oberlin played two conference games on Tuesday at home against Ohio
Wesleyan. The Yeowomen’s bats once again found life as they racked up 11 hits
in the first game, and the team was tied with the Lady Bishops 5-5 after five
innings of play. Errors by the defense, however, proved to be costly, as only
four of the 11 runs Ohio Wesleyan scored were earned. Golladay paced the offense
another three-hit game, including a double. Frizzell also added two hits in the
11-loss.
In the second game, Oberlin struggled to piece together hits, as they
were shutout 7-0. Balducci, Sweeney and Roseberry each chipped in two hits for
the Yeowomen. The two losses to Ohio Wesleyan dropped Oberlin’s record to 1-18
overall, and 0-12 in the NCAC.
On the season, Sweeney is leading the team with a .312 batting average,
while Golladay and Balducci are close behind with averages of .302 and .294,
respectively.
The Yeowomen will play host to Denison University, who is one of the best
Division III teams in all the country, in a doubleheader on Saturday, at 1:00
p.m. The games will be Oberlin’s last two official games of the season –
they play Lorain Country Community College on Monday at 3:30 p.m., but the game
will not count toward the team’s official record.
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