Season Preview: Softball Sets Sights on Fifth Ivy Championship
Pictured: Harvard will look to take back the Ivy League
North Division title in 2010.
Photo Courtesy: DSPics.com
The Harvard softball team returns a wealth of talent to the 2010
roster and sets its sights on a league title. The Crimson finished
the 2009 season with an overall record of 27-17 and a league mark
of 12-8, good for second in the Ivy League North Division and third
overall in the Ancient Eight, but missed out on the division title
for the first time since the implementation of division play in
2007.
In her 16th season at the helm of the program, head coach Jenny
Allard boasts a 365-288-2 overall record and a 153-63 mark in Ivy
League play. With seniors Margaux Black and Melissa Schellberg
serving as captains, Allard feels that the Crimson has the right
blend of upperclassmen leadership and freshman potential to make a
run at a fifth Ivy title.
“One of the elements that I’ve seen that is critical
to a team’s success is to have really strong
leadership,” said Allard. “With six solid seniors
returning that is really key for us this year. We also have not
only new energy but some impact players in the freshman class that
are going to come in and push everybody. I think the freshmen not
only give us a push at certain positions, but also give us great
overall depth.”
Infield
While the Crimson absorbs its biggest losses in its infield, there
remains plenty of talent at a multitude of positions. Sophomore
Whitney Shaw will anchor the team at first base after a stellar
freshman campaign in which she hit .304 and led the team with 11
doubles, 19 walks, a slugging percentage of .529 and an on-base
percentage of .455. Junior second baseman Ellen Macadam started 43
games for the Crimson in 2009 and was second on the team in doubles
(10) and stolen bases (9) while posting a team-high 42 hits and 60
total bases. Captain Melissa Schellberg will provide her usual
strong defense as well as power from the hot corner as she was tied
for second on the team with 23 RBI in 2009.
The graduation of shortstop Bailey Vertovez and catcher Hailey
Bock leaves Allard with some decisions to make in the infield but
the depth of the 2010 roster should provide a number of options.
Senior Jessica Pledger comes in as the top candidate to take over
catching duties after spending much of the 2009 season in a
designated hitter role and spelling Bock on a number of occasions.
Jane Alexander saw limited playing time in 2009 due to an injury,
but proved to be a defensively sound backup to Vertovez and looks
to take over the starting duties at shortstop this season.
The freshman and sophomore classes are loaded with infielders that
could make a serious impact in 2010. Megan Fazio, Olivia Piccione
and Mariel Sena begin their first season in Cambridge vying for
playing time at the catcher position while sophomore Eve Rosenbaum
made 15 appearances as a pinch-runner in her freshman campaign.
Sophomore Mari Zumbro started seven games in the field last season
and joins freshmen Jessica Ferri and Kassy Shiotani as potential
infield options.
Outfield
The Crimson outfield is boosted by a wealth of experience as
seniors Jennifer Francis and Stephanie Krysiak and junior Emily
Henderson will likely make up the starting trio. Francis, a 2009
All-Ivy selection, led the Crimson with a .311 batting average and
drove in a team-high 24 runs last season. Henderson, a 2008 All-Ivy
pick, was tied for second on the team with 24 runs scored and led
the team with 15 stolen bases in 2009. Krysiak started all 44 games
for Harvard last season as a defensive stalwart in center.
Freshman Ashley Heritage joins the Crimson in hopes of working her
way into the outfield rotation, while Sena and Shiotani will also
challenge for time in the outfield.
Pitching
Harvard returns the 2009 Ivy League Rookie of the Year in Rachel
Brown, who begins her sophomore campaign as the go-to option on the
mound. As a freshman, Brown led the league with 211 strikeouts. She
also paced all Crimson pitchers, and was second among Ancient Eight
hurlers, with 150 innings pitched, a 1.49 ERA and 16 wins.
Captain Margaux Black was second on the team with 16 appearances
last season and held opposing hitters to a .285 batting average in
40-plus innings. Sophomore Julia Moore posted the second-best ERA
on the team in 2009 with a 2.70 mark, while Dana Roberts and Zumbro
also contributed significant innings on the mound. Due to a
season-ending injury, Roberts will be serving in a student-coach
role for the 2010 season.
Ferri has stepped up early in spring preparations as a pitcher
with poise beyond her years who could toe the rubber for a number
of innings this season.
Schedule
A varied and challenging scheduled is once again on tap for the
Crimson as it begins its season March 5 with the UCF Invitational,
where it will face host Central Florida as well as Georgia
Southern, Providence, the College of Charleston and Boston College.
A week-long trip to California will pit the Crimson against
24th-ranked Texas A&M and San Diego State, a team receiving
votes in the national poll, as Harvard will participate in both the
Amy S. Harrison Classic and the San Diego Classic II, March
13-20.
Harvard opens its home schedule with a twinbill against Bryant
March 23, followed by a showdown with Boston University two days
later. The Crimson’s Ivy schedule kicks off with a
doubleheader at Princeton on April 2, followed by two games at
defending champion Cornell the next day. Harvard’s league
home-opener comes against Penn April 9 with Columbia visiting
Cambridge for two the day after.
In its longest homestand of the season, Harvard plays two against
cross-town rival Boston College April 15, before hosting
back-to-back double-headers against Brown April 17-18. The Crimson
wraps up its regular season with a home-and-home series against
2009 Ivy League North Division champion Dartmouth May 1-2.
