The Golden Rams may have had a quiet work week, but that did not stop them from making headlines. Junior Emily Maseth (Westminster, Md./Westminster) and senior Heidi McCollester (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) earned the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Player of the Month honors for the month of March and Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East Athlete of the Week honors, respectively. The Golden Rams (22-13) split their only doubleheader this past week with Shippensburg University (17-13) on Saturday, March 30.
On Thursday afternoon, the ECAC released its Division II Players of the Month for the month of March honoring Golden Rams’ junior Emily Maseth. In March, Maseth posted a batting average of .436 with 28 RBIs, four home runs and 15 extra base hits. Maseth also earned PSAC East Athlete of the Week honors twice during the month of March, and she was once named an NFCA Selected Top Performer of the month as well.
“It has been really great to see my hard work pay off with this accomplishment. My teammates and coaches have been very supportive all year, and I cannot wait to see what this team will do this season.”
Meanwhile, last Monday afternoon senior Heidi McCollester picked up PSAC East Athlete of the Week honors after a strong showing at the plate for the Golden Rams. McCollester had a great week as she went 13-for-23 (.565) with six runs scored, 12 RBIs, three doubles and one home run. McCollester’s six home runs this season set a new single-season career-high for the senior, who hit five home runs all of last season.
On Saturday afternoon, McCollester was 6-for-8 tallying two runs, eight RBIs, two doubles and a team-high sixth home run of the season leading West Chester to a pivotal split with Shippensburg. The Golden Rams dropped game one by a final of 8-4 before coming back to win game two by a final of 10-2 in six innings.
“Throughout the season, that’s just the way we have been” said McCollester. “In the first game, some things did not go our way and we got down, but we picked each other up. In the second game we really played our game, and that is how we were able to bounce back.”
As it stands right now, the Golden Rams are sitting comfortably in first place among the PSAC East division standings with an overall record of 22-13 and a 3-1 conference record. With six of their next seven opponents against PSAC competition, West Chester must remain focused to finish out the rest of the season strong.
“I think we are playing well, we just have to continue working on all of the little things” said Coach Diane Lokey. “Defense, pitching, hitting, and just keep working on refining everything.”
The West Chester University softball doubleheader scheduled for Friday, April 5 at East Stroudsburg was postponed until Sunday, April 7 due to inclement weather in the forecast.
Ferris Berlin is a fourth-year student majoring in finance and economics with a minor in journalism. FB845767@wcupa.edu