Sports Shorts

Athlete Of the Week

Senior Dawn Sweeney, from Tacoma, Wash., is the number one pitcher and the cleanup hitter for the softball team.

Sweeney went four for six in the Yeomen’s losing efforts against Hiram in Wednesday’s doubleheader. She had a double and a triple and knocked in three.

Through nine games, Sweeney is posting astounding numbers, with a .455 batting average, a .500 OBP, and a .909 slugging percentage. She has three doubles, two triples and a homerun, as well as six runs scored and six RBI.

She has pitched nearly every inning for the team this season.

The Softball team is 1-8 this season and will host Kenyon College on Saturday before traveling to Pittsburgh on Sunday to face Chatham College.

Quote of the Week

“He came through when we really needed him. No one could touch him.”

–Oliver Bleich
First-year baseball player

On sophomore teammate Troy DeWitt’s performance Wednesday.

Marquee Event

Baseball Doubleheader
Oberlin vs. Kenyon College
Saturday, starting at 1 p.m.
Dill Field.

The Yeomen (6-7) will look to go over .500 and win their first conference game in over a year as they take on NCAC East rival Kenyon (7-7).

In the Locker Room with. . .

Amid the din of a crowded Stevenson dining hall, first-year softball and rugby player April Gentile-Miserandino expounds on Drag Ball, menstrual aids, and the potential sacrileges undertaken by rugby players.

So since this the month of April, and your name is April, I thought it might be appropriate to ask you whether you actually were born in April. Were you?

AGM: No, but I get that a lot.

Really? How many people named April have you known who were also born in April?

AGM: I don’t know. I haven’t asked a lot of Aprils.

Hmm. So you play two sports, huh? Which do you like better?

AGM: Rugby is more intense and aggressive. I’m an intense and aggressive person. Rugby’s also got better songs.

What kind of songs?

AGM: After the game, the songs we sing when the team gets together to socialize. Most of them are really lewd and sexual.

What are some of the lyrics?

AGM: Well, some of them can be really offensive, especially to Christian people. One of the song titles is “Jesus Can’t Play Rugby.” It’s about how Jesus can’t play rugby because he’s either nailed to a cross, stuck behind a rock, or has holes in his hands. But softball is cool, too, because we have the “O, Shit!” play. It’s for outfielders, when you think the ball is front of you, and it is really way in the back of you.

Are you going to Drag Ball?

AGM: Yeah. Right now I’m thinking of going as a frat boy because that’s my inner king.

Are you in agreement with the new official stance on Drag Ball, as explicated by the posters around campus?

AGM: Well, I made the posters. Right now the event is viewed as a party and not as a drag “ball,” per se. Traditionally, it’s been an expression of the drag culture. Just hearing people talk about how they’re planning to dress, a lot of them with the “stank” look, it’s just offensive.

Yeah, I agree. So as a queer person involved with the LGBTU, how does it feel to also be active in the sports community?

AGM: It’s not really an issue for me. For rugby, it’s almost reverse homophobia. The team’s really accepting of any sexuality. For softball, it also hasn’t been a problem. I make enough jokes about it.

What’s your favorite thing about Oberlin?
AGM: The ribs at Stevenson. They’re pretty good today.

That’s the first time that I’ve ever heard anybody cite campus dining as one of their favorite aspects of the college.

AGM: I’m probably just really hungry.

So, what is the next question you would like me to ask you? I thought I might give you the chance to express yourself completely freely to the world.

AGM: What is “the keeper?”

Okay, what is “the keeper?”

AGM: “The keeper” is a natural gum rubber cup that collects your menstrual fluid.

As a male, it is not often that I find myself in a discussion about menstruation. I find it intriguing, but decide to rap up the interview with another random question from the wild pink yonder.

How long do you expect to live?

AGM: I used to think I would live a long time, but I heard there was this study that said people who sleep a lot die sooner. And I sleep a lot. I really like it.

Whoops! There were whole days during Spring Break in which I stayed in bed asleep. Oh well… You know, April, you may have just inspired me to develop a caffeine addiction in order to stay awake. At any rate, it is good to be reminded to seize the day, even on those days when your “keeper” is full of menstrual fluid.