This past week, the West Chester University softball team completed their regular season schedule, finishing with a record of 28-16 and 6-10 in the PSAC East. The Lady Rams have worked hard and it has shown throughout the 2009 season. However, three important pieces of the Lady Rams roster, infielders Kristin McCoy, Megan Halberstadt, and star left-handed pitcher Shannon Padula, are in the midst of finishing out their careers at West Chester. These ladies have dedicated a lot of their time and commitment to the Lady Rams throughout their career on the team. The seniors have high hopes and encouraging words for their teammates next year.
“Remember to keep having fun,” McCoy said as words of advice for the young players. “Don’t let little things get to your head and keep playing with your heart. All good things happen when you just have fun.”
Halberstadt urged the underclassmen to “just stick with it. It’s a long season and things don’t always go the way you want them to. Also, and most importantly, next year beat Shippensburg.”
“Don’t forget about why you play this sport,” McCoy and Halberstadt added.
Throughout the season, the seniors mentioned their most memorable games.
“My most memorable game this year is when we eight-runned Millersville because it proved to the conference that we were a team to not take lightly as we have been in the past,” McCoy said.
“I think my most memorable game this year was when we played East Stroudsburg away,” Halberstadt said. “In my four years we have never won there, so it was pretty exciting to get a win, and it was an important one. Plus, it was great to see McCoy hit her first career homerun, and Shannon get the win on a field where we usually always lose.”
The Lady Rams played their second to last double-header at home on Friday, April 17 against Millersville. The Lady Rams came away with two wins, 9-2 during the first game and 6-1 during the second. Padula walked two batters, and didn’t strike out any. During the second game, she walked two more batters and also struck out two.
Junior infielder Samantha Ingersoll was 3-for-3 on the plate with four RBI’s in game one. Between both games, she finished with five RBI’s. Sophomore outfielder Erin MacNamee went 3-for-4 in the second game with a double and two RBI’s.
Unfortunately, the Lady Rams didn’t get so lucky during their last PSAC East double-header against Kutztown Saturday, April 18. The Rams battled the Bears, but lost the first game 8-5 and the second 8-0.
Junior outfielder Evelyn Anderson went a combined 5-for-7 from the plate in both games. In the night game, Anderson and junior infielder Megan Harbaugh each got three hits off of Kutztown pitchers. MacNamee also hit two doubles and recorded the only other base hit along with Anderson and Harbaugh in the second game.
The ladies have finished up the season successfully with a lot of optimism but also some regrets.
“Overall I feel that we played really well this season,” McCoy said. “We have improved a lot from previous years. I wish we could have come up with some more wins in our conference but hopefully we will make it to playoffs.”
The Rams are still waiting to hear if they made it to the PSAC playoffs to continue their season and accomplish their goal.
Jillian Morgan is a second-year student majoring in communication studies. She can be reached at JM652349@wcupa.edu.