Sports

Softball eyes Centennial title after recent near misses

In print | March 19, 2009

The Swarthmore softball team journeyed south this spring break, opening the 2009 season with six games in North Carolina and a tournament in Salisbury, Md.

After a shaky start, falling 5-4 and 7-0 in a double-header against Guilford College and 4-3 in the first game against Peace College on Tuesday, March 10, the Garnet began to find their stride during the second game against Peace, securing a 9-7 win. The team continued on to sunny Raleigh, N.C. to play another double-header against Meredith College, once again starting the day with a loss in the first of the two games and following with a commanding 6-0 win in the second game.

On Friday, March 13, the Garnet women fell to the University of Mary Washington in a 5-2 contest. The second game, scheduled to begin at 4:00 against host Salisbury University, was cancelled on account of snow.

On Saturday, Swarthmore showed that this season still has huge success potential, recording two victories against Cabrini College and Wilkes University, respectively. The Cabrini game ended in a 3-2 victory. Co-captain and pitcher Alexandra Zelaski ’09 held Cabrini at bay with only two runs, while Marley Spector ’12 pitched her first-ever collegiate game against Wilkes, bringing home a Garnet win with a final score of 7-5.

While Swarthmore saw many outstanding individual performances over spring break, co-captain Christine Sendelsky ’09 stood out by establishing herself as a player to be reckoned with. Last year, Sendelsky earned All-Centennial Conference honors, and with key hits at bat and consistent contribution, has proved to be a permanent power on the field. According to fellow senior captain Lauren Walker ’09, “she definitely led us on Saturday.”

With some promising new talent rounding out this year’s roster, the Garnet look to the remainder of the season with optimism. Elizabeth Cushing ’12 stepped in as a vocal and key player in the position of shortstop, securing a starting role in her debut season with the Garnet. Spector proved she could handle herself on the mound in the Wilkes game, and Sasha Wijeyeratne ’12 also showed great potential both in skill and in demeanor.

Walker, who noted the importance of a team’s morale in its ability to succeed, described Wijeyeratne as a player who “always has a smile on her face, on and off the field.”

For the remainder of the season, the team plans to focus on “team work and communication,” Kristin Caspar ’09 said. “[Communication] is something that we struggled with in the first two games of the season, but that really took shape in the rest of spring break,” she continued.

Cushing echoed these sentiments, citing diligence, team cohesion and improved communication as key factors in the victory against Wilkes.

Walker also said that winning the Centennial Conference championship and securing an NCAA bid are also among team goals for the 2009 softball season. “We’ve made playoffs the last few years, but we’ve never come out on top,” she said.

Swarthmore will begin the Centennial season with a bye on March 21. The Garnet will host the Red Devils of Dickinson on March 28 to kick off 2009 conference play after hosting Elizabethtown today at 3 p.m.