NU women's softball team starts with strong season

By Matthew Anderson
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

The Norwich Women's Softball team beat one of the top-ranked teams in the nation in Women's softball, while going to 8-2 during their spring break trip to Florida.

"The team was well prepared when we went down to Florida, and they certainly played up to our expectations," said Dennis Tyner, head women's softball coach. Tyner also said "Unquestionably, the team played solid all around."

The women's softball team faced a grueling 10-game schedule and the hot Florida sun.

"We haven't played in weather like that," Tyner said.

"I think I did quite well. I felt I met a lot of my goals down there, so I am happy about that," said Jessica Hand, 18, a freshman architecture major from Portland, Ore.

"The highlight of our trip was the win over Transylvania. Transylvania is a topnotch team in the nation, and we didn't just beat them; we pummeled them. They couldn't stop us," said Tyner.

The NU team was underrated going into Florida. When they played Transylvania, the second string pitcher started the game for Transylvania.

After the Women Cadets went up by four runs, Transylvania decided to put in the starting pitcher to save the game, but nothing could stop the women Cadets from winning 9-1 by mercy rule.

Team captain Heather LeBranche, 21, junior English major from Bow, N.H. said, "We just played flawless defense. It was just great. The pitching was awesome."

Compared to last year's trip to Florida, when the Women Cadets went 1-9, they made a vast improvement on this year's preseason trip to Florida.

"We all played with a lot of confidence, we went 7-0 before our first loss," said LaBranche. "We were, like, three weeks ahead of where we were last year."

Playing softball wasn't the only thing that the Women Cadets did on their spring break in Florida.

"Oh, we had some fun, too," said Hand.

"We took our day off and had a real busy day off. We rented a couple of boats, and went out in the Gulf of Mexico, and so we caught a lot of sun. That tends to drain you," said Tyner.

The women won seven straight games before their first loss.

"We had a couple of breakdowns later in the week. I think part of it was a little bit of tiredness," said Tyner. "We had a couple of defensive breakdowns, which is the emphasis on our team: its defense," said Tyner. "The last two days, we struggled a little at the plate."

After the Women Cadets' trip to Florida for Spring break, they are more prepared to take on the regular season and compete for the GNAC championship.

Assistant coach and former player Jacqueline Pats said, "We're far more ready this year, starting now, than we were last year."

"Western New England College should be considered the top dog," said Tyner, referring to the GNAC. "Pine Manor lost an awful lot. They had originally been sitting atop the conference," Tyner said, adding that, "I think Norwich is, at worst, number two. I will take my chances against Western New England; they didn't beat us last year."

Back to Guidon index