With instantaneous reactions, precise timing and watchful eyes, freshman infielder Collette Abbott had a stellar season debut, hitting her first collegiate home run and beginning a streak of strong performances for the softball team last Saturday.
Despite the wet conditions, Princeton traveled to Lawrenceville this past weekend to compete in three back-to-back games against Rider, Monmouth and Lafayette, ready to put its previous month of hard work into action. Though the Lafayette game was eventually cancelled, the Tigers returned home with a 2-0 record, defeating both Rider and Monmouth, 7-2 and 3-1, respectively.
These consecutive wins boded well for the remainder of the season. Having lost four key seniors last year, this past weekend was a test to see how well the team had integrated the freshmen and filled the available positions.
Among the departed seniors was All-Ivy pitcher Erin Snyder, who had a stingy 0.83 ERA last year and holds the Princeton strikeout record. In addition to being a great pitcher, Snyder was also one of the team's strongest and most consistent hitters, proving to be a great loss at the end of 2006. The Tigers, however, welcomed several returning veterans and five new freshmen, hoping to find the perfect lineup.
"We lost a lot of key players and we are trying to find a lineup that works and is comfortable," senior third baseman Tiffany Andras said. "We have a lot of depth, as our roster is bigger than it has ever been in my time at Princeton — 18 players. I think that the team has a more focused mentality this year as well, as our coaches are pushing us to be a bit more disciplined than we were in the past."
Senior pitcher Calli Jo Varner and senior centerfielder Stephanie Steel — who was the third-hardest player to strike out — team up with junior outfielder Bethany Dalmut as captains for the new season, with an Ivy League title and return to the NCAA playoffs in their sights.
Also returning is junior pitcher Kristen Schaus, who teamed with Snyder to give Princeton one of the lowest team-earned run averages in the nation, and sophomore outfielder Kathryn Welch, last year's Ivy League Rookie of the Year and the team's leader in RBIs and batting average. As shown this past weekend, however, Princeton's greatest asset may be the five new freshmen, all of whom show strong potential.
Freshman outfielder Kelsey Quist has shown great power, batting several home runs in practice. Also impressive were freshmen pitchers Jamie Lettire and Abbott, both having already shown big impacts at the plate.
Down in the 7th inning against Monmouth, Princeton luckily made a comeback with the aid of these two freshmen. Lettire had an RBI double while Abbott shocked the stands with her first home run, helping the Tigers to cap the game at 3-1.
"This game was great because the freshmen who started really pulled their weight and came through for us in the end," Steel said. "Everyone contributed in this game and it was really great to see our aggressiveness at the plate."
Even with this strong roster, defending the Ivy League title will be difficult. This new season stands as the first year that the Ivy League has adopted the baseball structure, dividing the league into two divisions, grouping Princeton with Cornell, Columbia and UPenn. The winner of each division will proceed to a three-game playoff for the Ivy League Championship. The Big Red has long been one of the Tiger's greatest league rivals and gave Princeton its first league loss last season.
Regardless, the Tigers welcome this new challenge. With more intense practices, the team is eager to enter the spring season and advance further than last year.
"As always our goal is to win the Ivy League and go on to the NCAA playoffs in May," Steel said. "This year we want to advance out of Regionals and hopefully make it to the World Series. We have the talent."
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