Fourth-Year Softball Hopes to Continue Success

Author: Kate Nerenberg

The Middlebury softball team is only looking to build. In only its fourth year of existence, the team wants to build on last season's 12-17 record, with a combination of seasoned veterans and exciting first-years.
Head Coach Diane Boettcher emphasized that her team is simply trying to "play as many games as possible together." The Panthers are truly taking the season game by game. As Boettcher said, "within reach is the possibility of qualifying for the NESCAC tournament, but we'll take them one game at a time."
The team is going to rely on a core of pitchers and catchers, all veterans with starting experience from last season. This includes Andrea Russo '03, Lauren Bowe '04 and Megan McCarthy '05 leading the team from the mound. Last season, McCarthy boasted an impressive 8-4 record and 2.25 ERA as a first-year. Behind the plate, catchers Micheala George '04 and co-captain Kelly Slack '03 will anchor the team.
In addition to strong pitching and catching, the Panthers hope to blow away their opponents with their hitting ability, much improved due to hard work in the off season. Leading the way will be Christina Freyer '04, who pounded away at the plate last season, accumulating a .371 batting average with 33 hits. Freyer also recorded 19 runs, 22 RBIs and six home runs, the most on the team. The Panthers are also going to look to Slack to anchor the batting order, as she holds the best batting average of the returning players with .383, off 31 hits, which resulted in six runs and 12 RBIs. Lauren Guza '05 also posted notable batting numbers last season as a first-year with a .352 average off 32 hits. She amassed eight runs and 11 RBIs. If the Panthers want to make some noise in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), they will have to rely on this core of strong batters.
In the outfield, the Panthers are going to look to returnees Freyer in centerfield co-captain Laura Legere '03 in leftfield. The infield will use the experience of Guza at shortstop while Lindsay Ladd '03 will take care of second base. In addition to sitting behind the plate, George will share time with Katie O'Connor '05 at first base. Lauren Battaglia '06 will probably round out the infield at third base. Boettcher is excited that her class of rookies will "bring some speed on the bases."
The Panthers will get a chance to test their skills when they travel to Florida for a training trip and take on Southern Maine on March 24 for their first official game. The team will get to see how it matches up against NESCAC opponents on April 5, when it faces Williams. Tufts in the league championship last season. Whatever happens, Boettcher's team is looking to make a statement. "Middlebury's newest sport looks to take its place in the pantheon of Middlebury's athletic excellence."