 |
Megan Farrell '08 |
 |
Jillian Kimball '10 |
|
Alysn Ludwig '08 |
 |
Liddy van der Linden |
|
Christy Wezowicz '10 |
 |
Kiera Walsh '11 |
|
Alyssa Dunn '11 |
 |
Anna Willis '10 |
The Lady Monks softball team enjoyed an immensely successful
2008 campaign. The young squad, led by lone senior Megan
Farrell (Abington, MA), posted a 26-17 record to
notch the fifth-most wins in program history. The women played a conference
schedule for the first time since 2002 and went 19-7 in their inaugural
season in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference to earn the #3 seed
in the conference tournament. The successful season was capped by
the program’s first-ever ECAC New England Championship Tournament
berth.
Individual accolades included GNAC First-Team honors for junior centerfielder
Alysn Ludwig (Waldoboro, ME) and
Second-Team honors for sophomore second baseman Jillian
Kimball (Albany TWP, ME). Both players were named
to the 2008 Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association
Division III New England Second Team and Ludwig was
listed on the Division III New England All-Star Honorable Mention
team by the New England Intercollegiate Softball Coaches Association.
Eleventh-year head coach Jamie Smyth
and his team of eight freshmen, six sophomores, two juniors and one
senior kicked off the season with the team’s annual trip to
Fort Myers, Florida to play a slate of 10 games in the Gene Cusic
Collegiate Classic.
The Lady Monks lost their first contest of the trip to Clark University
(MA), 13-5, but the offense showed promise by rattling off 11 hits,
including home runs by Liddy van
der Linden (Worcester, MA) and Megan
Farrell.
In the second game, freshman starting pitcher Kiera
Walsh (Benton, ME) earned her first collegiate victory
with a 6-4 nod over Rockford College (IL). Walsh
allowed two earned runs and struck out six and Jillian
Kimball and Alysn Ludwig
both went 4-4 at the plate in the win.
The hard-luck Lady Monks went on to lose their next four games, three
in extra innings, to fall to 1-5 on the young season.
St. Joe’s would notch their second win when sophomore starting
pitcher Christy Wezowicz (Granville,
MA) led SJC to a 9-3 victory over Rockford College on March 7th. Wezowicz
allowed three earned runs and six hits in the complete game performance
to help stop the losing skid. Later that day the Lady Monks defeated
Dominican University (IL) 10-2 in a mercy-rule contest to improve
to 3-5. Starter Kiera Walsh struck
out three and did not allow an earned run and Jillian Kimball knocked
home three runs in the game.
The women won both of their games on the final day of their southern
swing with the first win over RPI coming in dramatic fashion. RPI
held an 8-3 lead after the four innings, but, with the help of a Liddy
van der Linden grand slam, the Lady Monks rallied for 8 runs
in the top of the sixth inning on their way to a 13-9 victory. With
a 7-5 triumph over Olivet College in the nightcap, St. Joe’s
finished their trip with a 5-5 record.
Liddy van der Linden, Kiera Walsh
and freshman Alyssa Dunn (Standish,
ME) were named GNAC Player, Pitcher and Rookie of the Week for their
efforts in the opening week of the season.
On March 24th the Lady Monks won a pair of conference games by a combined
score of 18-1 over host-team Albertus Magnus College in the program’s
first league action in six seasons. Game one starting pitcher Christy
Wezowicz fanned a career-high 12 batters and Kiera
Walsh, the nightcap starter, tossed a one-hitter
to help provide St. Joe’s with a memorable entrance into the
GNAC.
After a trio of confereCnce doubleheader splits on the road against
Lasell College, Saint Joseph College and Emerson ollege, the Lady
Monks returned to the friendly confines of Ward Park to host GNAC
opponent Johnson and Wales University in the team’s home-opener.
The women swept the visiting Wildcats in a pair of mercy-rule contests,
8-0 and 14-1 to improve to 12-8 overall and 7-3 in conference play.
Starting pitchers Wezowicz and Walsh
combined to allow just six hits in 11 innings and the SJC lineup exploded
for 35 hits, including five apiece from Liddy van der Linden
and Megan Farrell.
After a split with GNAC rival Simmons College on April 8th, St. Joe’s
went on to play 14 games in nine days, beginning with a with a doubleheader
at Emmanuel College on April 13th. The Royal Blue rallied to score
seven runs in their final two trips to the plate to earn a 9-7 victory
in the opener and game-two starter Christy Wezowicz
threw five innings in a 10-1 mercy-rule victory to earn her fifth
victory of the season. Jillian Kimball
went a perfect 7-7 with six RBI’s in the twinbill to help lift
the Lady Monks to a 15-9 overall record (10-4 GNAC).
The Lady Monks continued their winning ways with a pair of victories
over Daniel Webster College at home on April 15th. Freshman Cat
DeSimone (Waterboro, ME) was 3-4 with a run and an
RBI in the opener and starting pitcher Christy Wezowicz
struck out five in a complete game shutout in the nightcap.
St. Joe’s went on to earn a split in a pair of lopsided games
with host-team Suffolk University on April 17th, losing game one 13-2
and winning the nightcap 23-2. Alysn Ludwig
hit a three-run home run, her second career round-tripper, in game
two and Cat DeSimone tallied 6 hits, 3 runs and 2
RBI's to lead a Lady Monks offense that notched 31 hits in the two-game
set.
The Lady Monks traveled to Nashua, NH the following day to take on
Rivier College, the eventual GNAC Tournament Champions. St. Joe’s
took advantage of three Raiders errors to score two runs in the sixth
inning to win the opener in a pitcher's duel, 2-1. Starter Kiera
Walsh earned the victory in the circle and struck
out eight batters in the game. The Royal Blue suffered a difficult
extra-innings loss in the nightcap, 5-4. Rivier tallied a pair of
runs in the fifth inning to tie the game and scored the game-winner
on a wild pitch in the ninth inning. Game-two hurler Christy
Wezowicz struck out 9 batters in 8.1 innings and
sophomore Anna Willis (Gorham, ME)
recorded five hits in the twinbill.
Saint Joseph’s was 19-11 overall and 14-6 in GNAC contests after
the Rivier split and headed back to Standish to host conference opponent
Pine Manor College on April 19th. St. Joe’s lost the opener,
10-1, in a mercy-rule game, but got back on the winning track with
a 5-4 come-from-behind victory in the nightcap. With two out in the
sixth frame, freshman catcher Ellen Neff
(Chester, VT) hit a line-shot, two-RBI single past the PMC second
baseman to send home both sophomore Kayla Soucy
(Colebrook, NH) and Megan Farrell
and give St. Joe’s a 5-4 lead. Christy Wezowicz
notched her eighth win of the season and Alysn Ludwig
and Alyssa Dunn tallied three hits
apiece in the two games.
The Royal Blue used an offensive barrage to score 28 runs off 38 hits
in a sweep over Norwich University at home on April 20th to improve
to 22-12 overall and 17-7 in GNAC play. Anna Willis
notched 7 hits and scored 7 runs in the two games and Jillian
Kimball tallied 6 hits and 7 RBI's.
The Lady Monks concluded their nine-day stretch, as well as their
conference schedule, the following day with a pair of victories over
conference rival Mount Ida College, 2-1 and 4-0. Game-one starter
Kiera Walsh scattered 3 hits and
struck out 4 in game one to improve her season record to 14-5. Freshman
Renee Leach (Shapleigh, ME) was
3-4 to lead all SJC hitters in game two and Christy
Wezowicz notched her 10th win of the season in the
victory.
A 9-3 loss to Southern Maine on April 23rd completed the Lady Monks’
regular season schedule, as the women held a 24-13 overall record,
19-7 in GNAC games, heading into the conference playoffs.
St. Joe’s opened their playoff run with a 4-2 loss to #6 seed
Rivier College in the quarterfinal round. Sophomore shortstop
Liddy van der Linden hit a solo home run in the second inning
for the Lady Monks and was 2-4 in the losing bid. Starting pitcher
Kiera Walsh fanned six and took
the loss.
The Lady Monks kept their tournament hopes alive with a 3-0 triumph
over Emerson College in a losers-bracket contest the following day.
Starting pitcher Christy Wezowicz
allowed just two hits in the shutdown performance to pick up her 11th
win of the year and Liddy van der Linden went 3-3
with an RBI double in the SJC two-run first inning.
The SJC playoff run came to an end in the team’s next game against
#2 seed Simmons College. The Sharks used a five-run fifth inning to
clinch a 6-5 victory and eliminate the Lady Monks from the tourney.
Liddy van der Linden continued to swing a hot bat
and was 2-4 with 2 runs, 2 RBI’s and 2 doubles and Alysn
Ludwig and Alyssa Dunn
both went 2-4 in the setback.
Liddy van der Linden and Anna Willis
were both named to the GNAC All-Tournament Team for their outstanding
play in the tourney.
St. Joe’s split with NESCAC opponent Colby College on May 3rd,
losing the opener 7-1 and winning game two 9-5. Kiera
Walsh improved to 15-7 on the season and Alyssa
Dunn hit her first collegiate home run in the first
inning to help provide St. Joe's with a triumph in the team's final
regular season contest.
Two days later the Lady Monks found out that their season would continue.
The women received the program’s first-ever Eastern College
Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England tournament berth
as the #7 seed and would take on #2 Keene State College on May 7th.
The tough Owls team proved to be too strong for the Lady Monks as
the women suffered a well-played 4-0 loss to the Little East Conference
opponent in the single-elimination tournament. Freshman Cat
DeSimone was 2-4 at the plate and starter Kiera
Walsh allowed three earned runs in five innings to
take the loss, which saw the Royal Blue conclude the season with a
26-17 overall record.
Senior tri-captain Megan Farrell
capped her career with an excellent final season and currently ranks
eighth in career home runs (3) and ninth in RBI’s (74). The
team will miss her leadership and clutch hitting ability in 2009.
The successful 2008 campaign and postseason experience for the young
group certainly will help springboard the Lady Monks into the upper-echelon
of softball programs in the coming years, possibly as soon as 2009
with the addition of a talented class of incoming recruits. The confidence
gained from the success achieved in the program’s first year
in the GNAC is likely to pay off next season.
