WILLIAMSTOWN, MA — Play “No Fear” softball.
That’s one goal that head coach Kris Herman hopes her team can reach this season, her seventh at the helm of the Ephs who finished 16-17 in 2009 and qualified for the NESCAC Tournament.
Herman will have an opportunity to develop, teach and mold this 2010 Williams quad to her liking. Nine of the 14 players are sophomores or first years, and only one is a senior.
“One thing that excites me about this team is we’re going to get better every day,” she said. “We have a ton of upside in this group, we just have to figure out who we are, make the routine plays and be aggressive and smart on the bases. We always want to win the NESCAC, that’s always the goal, but it’s not something we talk about every day.”
Jess Cross is the squad’s lone senior, and she is the captain, with juniors Caitlin Cain and Carly Ameen also taking on some captainship responsibilities along the way. There are seven returning players, and seven first years.
“We don’t have a lot of experience,” Herman said. “Of our seven returnees, they all varying degrees of playing time, but all of them have worked very hard to be better.”
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| Jess Cross '10 |
One returnee with plenty of experience is junior Mary Beth Daub. Daub led the Ephs in innings pitched last year with 96, finishing the season 7-7 with a 2.70 ERA and 65 strikeouts.
First-years Megan Casey and Kaitlin Dinet will share the pitching burden with Daub, but expect the junior to carry the load.
“I think Mary Beth can be one of the top pitchers in the conference,” Herman said. “So far in the preseason, she’s felt strong and she’s felt on, that’s a very good sign for us.”
How the Ephs will support their pitchers, offensively and defensively, are among the unknowns this team faces. Last year, Williams hit .293 as a team, but graduation claimed the nation’s leading hitter (.563 batting average) in Joey Lye, who has returned as Herman’s assistant coach this season. Lye also led the Ephs in runs (43), and fellow graduates Morgan Simpson and Becky Sansone (30) shared the team lead in RBI.
Cross, who will start in the outfield barring unforeseen circumstances, is the leading returning batter with a .333 average. Junior Cain, who will start behind the plate, hit .313 with 17 RBI. And was 5 out of 5 in stolen base attempts.
Among the others back are sophomore Allison Hart, who got better as 2009 went on and finished with a .288 average in 18 starts. She’ll likely get the nod at second. Ameen is going to be given every chance to win the third base job and improve upon her .203 average from 2009.
Sophomore Oriana Mcgee is an outfield candidate who brings significant speed to the table. Junior Jessie Herzer will back-up Cain and fill in around the infield.
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| Mary Beth Daub '11 |
“No one person is going to replace Joey,” Herman said. “She was a special player. We’re going to have to continue to be aggressive on the bases, and we’ll have a better short game all around. “
A couple of the larger holes Herman is looking to fill include shortstop, where Lye resided for the last three years, and first base. First year Merilee Weston is getting the chance at short, while classmates Amanda Correnti and Dinet get a long look at first base from the veteran coach.
Others in the first year class expected to contribute include Cedar Blazek, who will play in the outfield, Erica Wu, another outfield candidate, and Emily Levy, whose versatility allows Herman to use her in the infield or outfield.
“I’m excited to have such a young team,”
Herman said. “It can be fun and maddening at the same time,
sure, but as I said, this group has a lot of upside. We’re
having a lot of fun, everybody loves to play the game. We just have
to keep learning and focus on getting better every day.”
