Ted Williams often said that hitting a quickly moving round ball with a round bat is the most difficult task in any sport. After watching sophomore Melissa Finley, one has a tough time deciding if Williams is right.
Sure, every time she enters the batter's box Finley makes hitting look easy. But once she steps onto the rubber, she reminds everyone — especially opposing hitters — just how tough a task batting can be.
During the past three weeks, Finley has arguably been the best softball player in the Ivy League — twice she was named Player of the Week. Her numbers at the plate are downright "sick."
Over that three-week period's 15-game stretch, she batted an amazing .548, while clocking four home runs, racking up 11 runs batted in, and scoring 12 runs.
"She's seeing the ball really well right now," head coach Maureen Barron '97 said. "The ball looks big and the fielders look tiny."
It's not just at the plate, however, that Finley has been "en fuego." She's won her last four starts, posting a 1.81 earned run average and 19 strikeouts in 27 innings of work.
Not surprisingly, the Tigers have gone 10-3-2 over her recent hot streak. That said, Finley was no slouch to start with. Last year, as a freshman, she was named to the All-Ivy second team.
With the loss of Brie Galicinao '02, Finley was one of several players expected to step into a leading role this year. She's far exceeded the high expectations, striking fear in opposing pitchers' hearts from the cleanup spot.
"She hit the ball hard last year," sophomore second base Kristin Lueke said. "But this year she's just killing it every time she steps to the plate. She's gotten a lot stronger."
For the season, she leads Princeton (14-10-2 overall, 5-0-1 Ivy League) in eight different offensive categories with stats that look like they came straight out of a video game.
She hits for average — .431 — and for power — .820 slugging percentage. She reaches base an astounding 52.3 percent of the time. And she rarely strikes out — her five whiffs are the least on the team of anyone with two or more at-bats.
Beyond just an increase in strength, which Finley credits to a revamped weight program, she cites added confidence and experience as an explanation for her improvement.
While she was hot at the plate from the beginning of the season, Finley struggled to find her pitching rhythm early in the year. She lost her first three decisions, as her ERA ballooned to double digits after a rough spring break road trip.
"It was mainly a mental problem," Finley said. "One bad game led to another."
After returning from the Southern road trip, with some help from video analysis, Finley was able to regain her timing. In an attempt to get tighter spin on the ball, she especially focused on her wrist snap.
She got her groove back in the home opener, picking up a complete game win over Monmouth. In the games since then, she's been borderline untouchable, combining with freshman ace Erin Snyder and junior captain Wendy Bingham to form the Ivy League's best pitching trio.
Beyond just her pitching and hitting, Finley also has an important role as a team leader. On a squad with just four upperclassmen, even sophomores are expected to lead. Her sense of humor helps keep teammates loose. Several fondly reminisce of a particular incident in which Finley took a dive in the bullpen. She had thought a line-drive foul was about to nail her — in truth, she was in no danger.
"Everyone thought it was funny," Finley said. "I thought I was going to die."
Slapstick theatrics aside, when game time arrives, she leads by example through her extra effort.
"She naturally knows when it's appropriate to be goofy and when it's time to be intense," Barron said. "She's the type of player I would have loved to have played with."
Though she missed the chance to play with Finley by a few years, Barron can take consolation in the fact that the young Tigers may be an Ivy League dynasty in the making, assuming Finley keeps making pitching and hitting look so simple.
So just what does Finley think of Williams' famous opinion?
"I guess I'd agree," she said. "There are so many factors involved in hitting. You're much more in control when you're the pitcher."
Still, despite the difficulty of batting, it is her favorite aspect.
"I'd rather be hitting — it's the most fun part of the game," she said. "And it's where the glory is."
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