STANDISH, ME – The Saint Joseph's Softball team entered the 2010 campaign with lofty expectations after advancing to the GNAC Championship game and participating in the ECAC Tournament for the second straight season in 2009.
Under the watch of 13th year Head Coach Jamie Smyth, St. Joe's posted a 30-10 overall record and went 21-3 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference play last spring. The conference win total and subsequent .875 in-league winning percentage both rank as program highs in three years as a GNAC member, while the 30 win season is the first since 1999 when Smyth, the 2010 GNAC Coach of the Year, guided the Royal Blue to Maine Athletic Conference and NAIA New England titles. The 30 win season is the second of Smyth's career and the fifth in program history.
The Monks clicked on all cylinders and opened the year with a 3-0 start on the team's annual trek to Fort Myers, Florida. Hitting .318 (28-88) and outscoring opponents by a 19-7 margin after three games, the Monks' bats proceeded to go silent, as the Royal Blue hit just .175 (27-154) as a team and lost five of six to fall to 4-5. Saint Joseph's rebounded with a 4-3 victory over Polytechnic (NY) in the team's final spring trip game and headed north with a .500 record.
Although the 5-5 record wasn't how the team expected to start the year, no one would have predicted what was about to happen upon the team's return to New England. Including the one-run win over Polytechnic, the Monks went on to set a new team record with 23 consecutive victories and did not fall in the loss column for over a month. Saint Joseph's outscored opponents by a collective score of 197-59 and hit .388 (266-686) during the streak, which tied the SJC Athletics record for most consecutive wins with the 1999 men's basketball team. The SJC pitching staff equaled the efforts of the hitters with a collective 1.95 earned run average during the 23 games, which included three shutouts and 13 contests in which two or fewer runs were allowed.
Aside from the win streak, which included 20 conference conquests, the 2010 Monks set a new team record for single-season home runs with 26 long balls. Senior shortstop Liddy van der Linden (Worcester, MA) led the way with a career-high and program-record 11 jacks, while sophomore outfielder Emily Leverone (Hampton, NH) hit eight out of the park and junior first baseman Alyssa Dunn (Standish, ME) belted five taters.
St. Joe's also challenged several team marks last spring and finished with the second-highest slugging percentage (.464), third-best OPS (.851) and fourth-most doubles (59) in team history. The Monks' deep pitching staff fanned 181 batters, the fourth-most in program history.
For Smyth the postseason coaching accolade was the sixth of his career, and several of his players received All-GNAC recognition as well. Leverone, van der Linden and Dunn all earned First Team All-GNAC honors, while sophomore pitcher Madylan Kluna (Standish, ME) and freshman outfielder Danyelle Shufelt (Sutton, VT) were selected as Second Team honorees. Senior outfielder Anna Willis (Gorham, ME) earned Third Team honors.
The Monks began the northern portion of their docket with a conference twinbill at Albertus Magnus College on March 21st. St. Joe's pounded out 45 hits in a pair of mercy-rule victories over the Falcons, with Leverone and Dunn, who combined to go 11-12 with 11 runs and 13 RBI, leading the offensive onslaught. The pitching staff, featuring Kiera Walsh '11 (Benton, ME), Christy Wezowicz '10 (Granville, MA), Kluna and Kayla Vannah '13 (Waldoboro, ME), surrendered just one run and three hits with 13 strikeouts to help the Monks improve to 7-5.
St. Joe's earned a pair of 8-2 triumphs over Mount Ida College in the team's home-opener five days later. Leverone was 5-7 with three runs, six RBI, three doubles and a long ball in the GNAC sweep. Wezowicz carried a perfect game into the fourth frame and scattered four hits in the nightcap win.
The Monks rallied from behind in both ends of a conference doubleheader to earn 7-2 and 6-4 wins over Emmanuel on March 27th. Shufelt led the Monks, who improved to 11-5 overall and 6-0 in GNAC play with the wins, with four hits and three runs in the two-game set.
The next day, St. Joe's tipped Suffolk 2-1 in the opener before blanking the Rams 8-0 in a mercy-rule win in the closing contest. Walsh retired the first 15 batters she faced in the first game and allowed three hits in the Monks' lowest scoring game during the streak.
Leverone went 6-8 with five runs, four RBI, two doubles and a homer in a sweep over GNAC foe Norwich University on April 2nd senior second baseman Jillian Kimball (Albany Township, ME) was 5-8 with three runs, an RBI and a triple in two victories over Johnson & Wales the next day to help the Royal Blue extend the streak to 13 games.
After 12 straight wins over GNAC opponents, Saint Joseph's traveled down the road to Southern Maine for a non-conference twinbill against the Huskies. The Monks continued to dominate on the diamond with some timely hitting and effective pitching, as the Royal Blue swept USM with 11-2 and 6-1 wins in Gorham. Leverone drove home four runs overall and Samantha Gray '12 (Yarmouth, ME) belted a three-run triple in the opener, while Wezowicz and Vannah combined to allow just 11 hits with one walk and eight K's in the circle.
Saint Joseph's hosted GNAC rival Pine Manor College on April 10th and escaped with a pair of close wins against the Gators, despite making seven errors defensively. Dunn and van der Linden carried the offensive load for the Royal Blue, as the pair combined for nine hits, five runs, six RBI, two doubles and a home run on the day. In the opener, St. Joe's erased a 9-5 deficit with five runs in the bottom of the sixth to earn a 10-9 win and negate the team's biggest scare during the winning streak, which stood at 17 games after an 8-6 nightcap win over the Gators.
Next up for the Monks was an April 11th conference doubleheader against St. Joseph (Conn.) at Ward Park. The Royal Blue rejected the GNAC rival with 8-3 and 3-1 wins, with the latter breaking the team's former winning streak record of 18 games. Dunn and van der Linden starred offensively, as the duo combined for eight hits, four runs, three RBI, a double and a home run in the sweep.
The Monks upped the streak to 21 straight, and remained undefeated in GNAC play (18-0), with 5-0 and 12-3 wins over Simmons College two days later. Kimball and van der Linden both had four hits in the twinbill, while Wezowicz and Vannah improved to 8-2 and 3-0, respectively, in the circle.
St. Joe's tied the SJC Athletics winning streak record with 10-6 and 12-2 triumphs over GNAC foe Lasell College on April 14th. In a "perfect storm" of program and individual records, the Monks, who belted five homers in the two games, managed to set or tie three home run records against the Lasers. St. Joe's broke the program's single-season team record for long balls and Leverone, who jacked three home runs against on the day, broke the team's career record for taters with a two-run shot in the second frame of the nightcap. To make the game release even more confusing, van der Linden hit her eighth home run of the season in the second game to tie Leverone's single-season mark.
The Monks' historic victory run came to an end five days later, as 2009 GNAC Champion Emerson College managed to sweep the Royal Blue, with 9-1 and 5-1 wins, at Ward Park. One of the team's only highlights came in the nightcap, when van der Linden hit her ninth home run of the year in the bottom of the fourth to break the team's single-season record for long balls.
As impressive as the Monks' 23-game streak was, it wasn't the longest posted by a GNAC team during the 2010 campaign. This honor is held by Rivier College, who began a conference doubleheader with Saint Joseph's with a 27-game winning streak, along with a 22-0 record in GNAC play, on April 21st. Behind a stellar pitching performance by Kluna, who scattered five hits in a complete-game effort, the Monks stopped the Raiders' streak with a 2-1 victory and earned the #2 seed in the upcoming GNAC Tournament. Heather Tripp '13 (Lovell, ME) went 3-3 with a double and scored both of the Monks' runs in the win. Rivier, the eventual 2010 GNAC Champion, managed to salvage a split with a 4-1 win in the nightcap.
For the second year in a row, second-seeded Saint Joseph's hosted a leg of the GNAC tourney opening round. #3 Emerson topped #5 St. Joseph (Conn.), 1-0, in the opening game before facing the Monks in the nightcap. Thanks to two-out RBI single in the bottom of the third by Leverone, St. Joe's clung onto a 1-0 after five innings of play. The battle-tested Lions managed to plate three runs in the sixth and another in the seventh, however, to take a 4-1 victory and send the Monks to the loser's bracket.
Saint Joseph's dispensed of #8 Norwich, 14-5, in the first loser's bracket contest behind the offensive prowess of van der Linden and catcher Ellen Neff '11 (Chester, VT), who combined to go 6-8 with five runs and five RBI in the mercy-rule triumph. The Monks improved to 30-9 overall with a convincing 11-3 win over #4 Simmons College in the team's second "win-or-go-home" game of the day. St. Joe's rattled off seven extra-base hits, including back-to-back-to-back home runs by Leverone, van der Linden and Dunn with two out in the fifth frame.
The Monks squared off against Emerson the following day in the final elimination game of the GNAC Tournament, where the Royal Blue trailed 4-0 in the early going. St. Joe's managed to chip away at the lead and tied the game at four apiece with a run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Lions pushed across the game-winning run in the top of the seventh to end the Monks' season.
The difficult loss signaled the end of four outstanding careers, as seniors and captains Kimball, van der Linden, Wezowicz and Willis had played their last collegiate contest. The foursome helped the Royal Blue post a 101-58 (.635) record over the last four years, including an unbelievable 58-16 (.784) effort in GNAC play. The group left their mark on the program, on and off the field, as well as the SJC Softball Record Book.
Several individuals posted outstanding efforts:
- Leverone earned All-ECAC New England Second Team and NEISCA Second Team honors after leading the Monks in batting average (.450, 58-129), hits (58), doubles (14), RBI (60), slugging percentage (.775) and on-base percentage (.472) this spring. Leverone, who owns 11 program records in just two seasons at St. Joe's, broke the team's single-season RBI record in 2010.
- van der Linden capped her career with her finest season, as the senior shortstop hit .346 (44-127) with career-highs in runs (33), home runs (11), RBI (37), total bases (85), slugging percentage (.669) and on-base percentage (.417). She started all 159 of the team's games at shortstop during her four seasons and ranks in the top five in six SJC career offensive categories.
- Dunn continues to post amazingly consistent numbers as a middle-of-the-order threat for the Monks. The first baseman hit .369 (41-11) with 19 runs, 10 doubles, five homers and 30 RBI as a junior and could be near or at the top of many career categories with another "Dunn-like" season.
- Shufelt started all 40 games and hit .368 (46-125) with 33 runs, 11 RBI and eight steals in eight tries during the 2010 campaign. She ranked second on the team in hits and stolen bases and earned GNAC Rookie of the Week honors on March 30th.
- Willis hit .339 (43-127) with 37 runs and was 12 for 12 in stolen base attempts as a senior. She led the team in steals, ranked second in runs and fourth in hits and closes out her career ranking fourth in at bats (492), runs (125) and hits (164) in program history.
- Kluna, Walsh and Wezowicz all enjoyed spectacular seasons in the circle for St. Joe's. Kluna led the staff in ERA (1.79), strikeouts (63) and opponent's batting average (.246), while Walsh paced the group in innings (79.2) and complete games (10) and went 9-3 with a 2.72 ERA. Wezowicz paced the staff with a 10-3 record and posted a 2.35 ERA while fanning 55 batters in 77.1 innings.
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Back (L-R): Assistant Coach Ashley Woodcock,
Head Coach Jamie Smyth, Kirin Schrum,
Kiera Middle (L-R): Emily Leverone, Caitlin Schrum, Kayla
Vannah, Ellen Neff, Danyelle Shufelt, Front (L-R): Brittany Worcester, Danielle Leavitt,
Anna Willis, Jillian Kimball, Christy Wezowicz, |
