Clap it Up Fans, Swat Softball is Underway
The Swarthmore softball team looks to continue its recent run of success with big bats, willing arms and a stout defense in 2009.
In five seasons under head coach Renee Clarke, the climate surrounding Garnet softball has gone from dire to on-fire, rolling out 20-win seasons and Conference playoff appearances. The 2008 season saw the team take on a tougher schedule and the end-result was the program’s first postseason appearance and postseason victory at the E.C.A.C. South Region Championships.
Coach Clarke and the inhabitants of the Swarthmore softball house are again hard at work in 2009, seeking to check another goal off the to-do list tacked to the refrigerator. Still left on that list is “Conference championship” and “NCAA Tournament.” The Centennial coaches concur with the fact that Swarthmore will again be right in the hunt for the Conference title, voting the Garnet second in the pre-season poll behind defending champion Ursinus.
The housing market is flooded with buildings for sale and it seems no one is immune. The home of the Garnet softball team, Clothier Fields, has an ominous sign peering down in the form of a broken scoreboard. The two-year old placard has seen its score stuck on “87” and “10” for much of the winter. The Swarthmore softball teams left some unfinished business on the field in 2008—the Garnet saw its lead in the Conference playoffs against eventual NCAA tournament entrant Ursinus slip away. The 2009 season is a fresh slate, albeit a tougher one with the difficult schedule laid out by Coach Clarke.
The Swarthmore offensive attack returns powerful bats in All-Conference hitters Christine Sendelsky ’09 (Edison, N.J. / John Stevens) and Kathryn Riley '10 (Dagsboro, Del. / Indian River). Sendelsky, a team captain for the second year, is in the process of posting one of the best collegiate careers by a Centennial second baseman, amassing 122 hits, 61 RBIs and 88 runs in just three seasons. The energetic senior, hitting at a .334 clip in her career, has been named All-Conference all three years (first in program history) while also receiving All-Region and E.C.A.C All-Star honors on two occasions. Sendelsky flashed the leather in 2008 as well, leading Centennial second basemen with a .987 fielding percentage (one error in 77 chances in Conference play).
Riley, also a team captain in 2009, was named All-Region for her hitting prowess for the second straight season last year. She surpassed the impressive numbers she put up in 2007, leading the team in seven offensive categories--batting average (.371), hits (49), doubles (14), home runs (four), RBIs (29) total bases (75), slugging percentage (.568) and on-base percentage (.450). Riley, the best two-way player in the Centennial and perhaps all of Division III, was just as successful on the pitching rubber in 2008. The right-hander repeated as a first-team selection at after tallying eight wins in 10 Conference starts, posting 72 strikeouts with just nine walks in 77.2 innings pitched. She ranked second in wins, strikeouts, opponents’ batting average (.189) and shutouts (three) while finishing third with a 1.17 ERA. Riley posted an overall record of 18-9 with a 1.97 ERA, striking out 188 batters while walking just 27 in 184.1 innings. She tossed two no-hitters in 2008, setting new school records for strikeouts, shutouts (eight) and wins, all set by Barbara Schaefer ’90.
Coach Clarke is fortunate to have another talented arm on the Garnet pitching staff. Senior captain Alexandra Zelaski (Middleburg Heights, Ohio / Midpar), who battled through an injury-riddled junior year, has 22 career victories with 154 strikeouts in 51 appearances. Zelaski has renewed vigor in 2009, diving back into the pitching and conditioning program that can lead to more Swarthmore success on Clothier Fields.
Leadership and talent are present in the outfield as well. Senior outfielder Lauren Walker (Fallston, Md. / The Hotchkiss School [CT]), a captain in softball and soccer at Swarthmore, has been a big part of success on two teams in the Garnet uniform, making the Centennial Conference playoffs six times in seven chances. Walker will again be the catalyst at the top of the lineup, having swiped 44 bases in 47 career attempts (her 19 steals in 2008 ranked second in the Centennial). Her 32 runs scored last season led the team and when Walker gets on base, the Swarthmore offensive machine is tough to stop.
Joining Walker to round out the outfield will be senior Kristin Caspar (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. / Briarcliff) and sophomore Zoe Hendrickson (Strafford, N.H. / Coe-Brown Northwood Academy), both who possess the ability to track down balls in the gap and come up with timely at-bats.
Coach Clarke has depth and experience all over the field—the Garnet return 11 letterwinners from the 2008 squad. The catching duties again will be split between junior Michele Perch (Kinnelon, N.J. / Kinnelon) and sophomore Kira Kern (Newtown, Pa. / Council Rock North) who combined for just four errors in 255 chances while nabbing eight of 27 would-be base stealers.
The sophomore class contains with a trio of power-hitting corner infielders, including Krista Scheirer (Norristown, Pa. / Germantown Academy), Maggie Vizcarra (Long Beach, Calif. / Long Peach Polytechnic) and Melissa Emmerson (Ringwood, N.J. / Lakeland Regional). Schreirer learned first base on the fly last season, posting a .990 field percentage (just two errors in 207 chances), while moonlighting in the pressure-packed number 2 hole in the lineup. Vizcarra and Emmerson are capable of playing both sides of the infield and providing some pop at the dish—the pair combined for four home runs, 11 doubles and 41 RBIs in 2008.
One tenant of the Swarthmore softball house moved out at the end of 2008 (four-year starter Katherine Gold '08) and three newbies have moved their belongings in. Clarke gives the tour, a well-described scene told last season. Gold exited college athletics in grand fashion, tying the Centennial record with five hits in one game (at ECAC Championships). Newcomer Elizabeth Cushing (Middletown, Del. / Padua Academy) saw the to-do list on the refrigerator and quickly scribbled her name in as the new shortstop. Joining Cummings among the first-years will be pitcher Marley Spector (Woodmere, N.Y. / George W. Helwett) and outfielder Sasha Wijeyeratne (La Verne, Calif. / Vivian Webb School).
The Garnet women again open the season with a southern swing over spring break, taking on three opponents in North Carolina (Guilford, Peace and Meredith) before stopping at national-power Salisbury for their annual two-day event. Swarthmore is scheduled to make its home debut on March 19 when Elizabethown comes to campus for two games. Following close behind will be sixth-ranked Cortland State on March 21. Swarthmore’s Centennial schedule kicks off home games against two of the top teams, Dickinson and 10th-ranked Ursinus, on March 28 and March 31, respectively.