Softball sails to 17-4, winning five in a row

The Lady Panthers flattened Hamilton, scoring 30 runs with only 27 hits on Saturday. The Middlebury Women’s Softball team record now stands at 17-4 overall, and 8-1 for NESCAC West. They have been on a winning streak, winning nine games in the past few weeks.
Against the Continentals, the Panthers score 14-2 in their first game, and then 16-0 in the second. The Panthers’ prowess on the field cut both games short at five innings because of an eight-run mercy rule. The wins against Hamilton this weekend puts Middlebury Softball on top of the NESCAC West Division, and in the playoffs for the first time since 2005.
Jessa Hoffman ’13 started the first inning of the first game for the Panthers, hitting a single down the left side, followed by Leslie Crawford ’11 with a groundball to third base, allowing Hoffman take second. Megan Margel ’11 hit a double down center field, allowing Hoffman  to cross home plate, scoring the first of many runs for the Panthers this past weekend.
Geena Constantin ‘11 and Emma Katz ’13 also got hits in the first inning. Hamilton College answered with a run of it’s own, but was quickly shut down in the second inning by Emily Burbridge’s ’11 homer, allowing Sarah Boylan ’13 to come home.
In the third inning, Middlebury pulled away from Hamilton with three runs on four hits, with Crawford, Margel, Constantin and Burbridge each putting runners on the bases. The Panthers slowed down in the fourth inning, with no runs and no hits, but really brought it home in the fifth and final inning, with an incredible nine runs on six hits and three errors.
The Panthers came on strong in the second game, with Jessa Hoffman ’13 smacking a home run right off the bat. Constantin ’11 followed that up with a double, sophomore Jessica Poracky hit a single, and senior Kelsey Chisholm rounded out the inning with a single as well.
The Panthers continued to gain momentum, scoring seven runs on four hits and two errors in the second inning, three in the fourth, and two in the fifth.
Sophomore Jessa Hoffman was named NESCAC player of the week this week for her achievements against Hamilton and throughout the season. She hit .526, and slugged .947. This week alone, she hit five doubles and a home run for the Panthers. She scored nine runs, drove in four and had an on-base mark of .591. She scored 8 runs and hit three doubles this weekend against the Continentals.
With this hot start, Middlebury softball is poised to make noise on the national stage as they have never before. At the very least, they will be able to put themselves in excellent position to make a run deep into the postseason. It’s not just that softball is winning, it’s the way they are winning — with a level of dominance in all phases of the game that leaves their opponents scratching their heads week in and week out.
Up next for the Lady Panthers is a home game against Lyndon State at 3:30 pm and again at 5:30 pm on April 19, followed by a double header at Union on April 20, three home games against Amherst (at 5:00 pm on April 22, 12:00 pm on April 23 and again at 2:00 pm on the 23rd), a double header at home against Plymouth State on April 25 at 3:30 pm and 5:30 pm,and a double header at home against Skidmore on April 27 at 3:30 pm and 5:30 pm.