Due to predicted snow in Evansville, Indiana, where the opening tournament was supposed to occur, the Charger softball team was instead heading to Duncan, South Carolina Thursday for the season’s debut. But, as of Thursday morning, the team’s trip to South Carolina was cancelled. The team would have played four mostly in-region teams this weekend: St. Joseph’s, Bellarmine, Trevecca Nazarene, and Southern Indiana.
“We think we’re going to be really good this year,” head coach Joe Abraham said. “We’re shocked [the GLIAC] put as at 10th for how we finished last year. I don’t see any reason we can’t finish in the top four. We have almost everyone back, and five freshmen who are good.”
Abraham was referring to his team’s impressive end-of-season finish, in which the team won 15 of the final 18 games, and nine of the last 10 in the conference. Unfortunately, with an overall record of 21-17 and a GLIAC record of 13-13, they lost the tiebreaker for eighth place and did not make the conference tournament. The team wants a different outcome this season.
“We think we come into the season pretty well balanced,” Abraham said. “Our pitching got stronger in the second half of last season, and we return all of our pitchers. We had a drastic improvement in team defense from the year before to last year. Each year our hitting gets better because we simply have more talent.”
The 2014 team, with only one senior, was young, which Abraham said contributed in part to the slow start. The other main culprit, he noted, was winter weather. Of the GLIAC teams (all in Ohio and Michigan) who have played thus far, the combined record is 12-30.
“It just goes to show how difficult it is to come out of a gym and play softball outside,” Abraham said. “Almost half of the league teams [that play softball] have turf buildings. We are not in an ideal situation for an indoor softball practice. On one hand, you don’t want to use excuses, but at the same time, facilities matter.”
In addition to practicing softball in the gym, the baseball team lends its indoor batting barn to the softball team, and this year, the team also practices batting in a gymnastics-type building behind a house on Oak Street. Because of practicing in a very different environment than where games are held, it’s hard to tell exactly how the lineup will look this weekend.
“Dirt changes everything,” assistant coach Erin Porter said.
The freshman class brings a lot of offense in strong hitting, Abraham said, along with a talented pitcher, Danielle Stein. In addition to Stein, senior Kate Ardrey, junior Sarah Grunert, and junior Sarah Klopfer will return to the pitching staff. Grunert won All-GLIAC honorable mention last year as a utility player, and served as the team’s leading hitter. Ardrey also saw a big offensive year in 2014, and will bat in the middle of the lineup.
“I’d say this is the best team we’ve had since I’ve been here. There’s not a single girl I wouldn’t put on the field right now. There’s not a single one I wouldn’t trust. It’s nice to know we have depth,” Ardrey said.
Adding pressure to the opener, this weekend’s games are crucial to postseason play in the region. The team will travel to Florida the following weekend of spring break, where the Chargers will face non-region teams.