Softball Tries to Build a Strong Program
by Zachary Pretzer

Despite popular belief, there are circumstances in which winning isn’t necessarily the most important part of the game. The Oberlin women’s softball team finished last season impressively, with three straight victories, but due to the loss of a few seniors and key players, the Yeowomen are in the midst of building up a program.

The team has started the season with a 0-5 record, with their two most recent losses coming on Tuesday against Notre Dame College of Ohio, 8-1 and 15-0. The losses, however, do not reflect the amount of hard work and dedication the team has put into making themselves better players. And with their hard work has come learning and growth in game situations that can only make them a more experienced team as the season progresses.
So far this season, junior co-captain Dawn Sweeney has provided the bulk of the offense, batting .400 with a double, a triple and a stolen base. Also, Sweeney has scored one of the Yeowomen’s two runs this year, with sophomore third baseman Amy Golladay scoring the other. Golladay has also been coming along strong defensively, as she managed to record all three outs in an inning against Notre Dame.

In the first game against Notre Dame, Sweeney and Golladay led the offense with two hits each, and juniors Jessica Marish and Ann Frizzell added one hit apiece. From the mound, Sweeney pitched strongly, going six innings and giving up five earned runs, but five errors by the defense proved to be killers as Notre Dame crossed eight runs over home plate by the end of the fifth inning. In the loss, Golladay added the team’s only run batted in and one of Sweeney’s hits was a triple.

As for the season thus far, Head Coach Jane Wildman said she is pleased with the progress the team is making. 

“I’m not obsessed with winning as long as the team is getting better and the new players are learning from experience. We’ve had too many errors, so we have been working hard on fundamentals in practice. Hopefully our hard work will help us make the easy plays routinely and give us a better shot of making difficult ones,” Wildman said.
The team came into the second game against Notre Dame hoping to use some of their experience and possibly earn a victory, but the opponents jumped out to a quick lead off of senior pitcher Heather Barbee, and also due to four more errors made by the defense. The Yeowomen fell 15-0 in five innings of play, and Sweeney and junior shortstop Maria Balducci provided the team’s only two hits.
Said Wildman, “Our scores don’t really portray the amount of growth that we have achieved so far. We are in the heart of a growing process, and it’s only the program’s second year. I’ve been glad to get the experience we have so far.”
The team opened the season with two losses at Case Western Reserve University, 13-1 and 9-0, and also fell to LaRoche (Pa.) College at home during break, 9-0. Other players who have provided offense so far this season are senior Sarah Breon and first-year Sally Abrahamson. Breon is second on the team with three hits and a .300 batting average, and Abrahamson has the team’s only other run batted in and also has a .333 batting average early in the season.
The Yeowomen will look to pick up their first victory as they will travel to Gambier, Ohio to take on Kenyon College on Saturday, at 1 p.m. in a doubleheader.