Continentals conquered in Sunday double dip

Author: Dave Lee

The Middlebury softball team returned to action against NESCAC rival Hamilton this Sunday, picking up two wins to begin its conference schedule a perfect 2-0. These wins are important to the team's overall record, but more importantly, they will give a boost to the team's confidence after a shaky preseason trip to Florida.

The team dropped its first four games to non-conference rivals Hamline, University of Chicago, Worcester and Wellesley before picking up its first win over Carleton. Something was not clicking. Susan Miranowski '07 thought the problem was simple. "We were nervous. It was the first time we had played live softball outside in a long time," she said.

The restaurant "Cheeburger Cheeburger" in Fort Meyers, however, proved to be the magic that got this talented young team back on track. As tradition goes on nights before the last games, rookies Amelia Magistrali '09, Allison Bard '08 and Natalie Komrovsky '09 stepped up and ate "The Pounder," a mammoth-sized one-pound hamburger offered at the restaurant more as a challenge than a realistic entrée.

It seems that this feat of consumption was all the team needed. The women responded immediately with two of their best performances of the season - a 7-2 win over Bethel and a heart-breaking one-run loss to powerhouse Southern Maine. Captain Lauren Battaglia '06 led the team with an incredible .410 batting average while both Middlebury hurlers maintained ERA's below 2.00. With the nerves gone and "The Pounder" digested, the Panthers were ready to return to Vermont on the right foot.

The Middlebury bats were certainly ready when they took on Hamilton in Game One of the day's doubleheader. The team notched 12 runs on 10 hits as the women rolled to a 12-6 victory over an error-plagued Hamilton squad. Although the team went down 3-0 early, partly due to Hamilton's first-year standout Amber O'Connor going 4-4 with three RBI, a huge two-run single by Maura Casey '07 in the second inning sparked the Panther offence to an easy victory. Pitcher Jen Williams '07 earned the win while striking out five and even added a little offence herself, scoring two runs for the squad.

Game Two proved to be a closer contest as both squads tightened up their defense. With the score tied 2-2 in the fifth, Battaglia knocked a two-run double to give Middlebury a 4-2 lead. An insurance fifth and final run was added in the sixth with an RBI double from Casey, giving Middlebury the 5-2 victory. Katie Hurd '06.5 paced the team, going a perfect 3-3 in the contest. Pitcher Brittany Burke '08 had a standout day on the mound, allowing only one earned run while striking out five Hamilton batters and pitching the full seven innings.

Although Hamilton is one of the weaker squads the Panther women will face this season, sophomore center fielder Katelyn Cannella realizes that every win counts; she said, "It's really nice to get two under our belt to prepare us to face other NESCAC rivals like Amherst and Williams. It's our NESCAC record that gets us a spot in the post-season." With seven players batting over .300 on the season, a post-season birth could be in reach. The team will next travel to Amherst on Saturday, April 8 for a doubleheader.