STANDISH, ME - The 2009 Saint Joseph's Softball team posted the program's best record, 29-14, in the last 10 years and surged to a second-place finish in the GNAC with a 19-6 tilt in league play. St. Joe's posted ten and nine game winning streaks and dropped both ends of a doubleheader just twice all season. The Lady Monks capped the 2009 campaign by participating in the ECAC Championship Tournament for the second-consecutive year.

St. Joe's kicked off the season with 10 games in the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic Tournament in sunny Fort Myers, Florida. After four days of play the team's record stood at 4-4, but the Lady Monks broke through with a pair of victories on their final day, March 14th, to head north at 6-4.

A pair of SJC players, Liddy van der Linden '10 (Worcester, MA) and Emily Leverone '11 (Hampton, NH), secured GNAC weekly honors upon their return. van der Linden was named as the conference player of the week after hitting .364 with nine runs and 14 RBI. Leverone provided a glimpse of what was to come by opening her collegiate career with an outstanding week to capture GNAC Rookie of the Week honors. The third baseman hit .515 (17-33) with two home runs and 12 RBI and notched seven multiple-hit games during the team's southern swing.

The Lady Monks opened their conference schedule on March 21 st with a doubleheader on the road against Emerson College. SJC starting pitchers Kiera Walsh '11 (Benton, MA) and Christy Wezowicz '10 (Granville, MA) both pitched well, allowing just one earned run each, but the Lions took full advantage of two Saint Joseph's miscues in the twin bill to sweep the visitors, 6-3 and 5-3.

After the pair of losses St. Joe's held a 6-6 record but went on to win eight straight conference games and 10 contests overall and stood at 16-6, 8-2 in GNAC play, after sweeping Southern Maine on April 7 th . Saint Joseph (CT) snapped the string for the Lady Monks by taking the first game of a conference twin bill, 3-1, the following day. The loss started a small skid for the Royal Blue, as the team posted a 2-4 record against GNAC rivals Saint Joseph (CT), Norwich, who swept the Lady Monks in Vermont on April 10th, and Suffolk.

The SJC offense exploded in the next eight games leading up to the conference tournament, outscoring their opponents by a combined score of 76-5 with six shutouts and six mercy-rule victories. Amidst the eight-game streak Head Coach Jamie Smyth '92 became the winningest coach in program history. With an 8-0 triumph over Emmanuel on April 15th Smyth collected his 245th career victory to surpass longtime skipper Dick Bailey .

Leverone continued to punish opposing pitchers and hit .682 (15-22) with 15 runs, 15 RBI and eight doubles during the onslaught. The first-year player broke the SJC single-season mark for home runs with a long ball against Mount Ida, her seventh of the year, on April 17th. She also broke the team doubles record with her 15th two-bagger of the season against Lasell on April 18th and set a new campaign mark for hits the following day against Albertus Magnus. Freshman pitcher Madylan Kluna (Standish, ME) tossed a five-inning perfect game in the opener versus the Falcons.

As the #2 seed in the GNAC playoffs the Lady Monks played host to #3 Suffolk in the opening round on April 24th. Leverone belted a three-run home run in the first inning to provide SJC starter Kiera Walsh with all the support she would require, as the sophomore held the Rams in check with seven brilliant innings, scattering eight hits with four strikeouts.

St. Joe's went on to face top-seeded Emerson College in a winner's-bracket contest the following day. The game was a pitcher's duel between Kluna and Lions' ace Kelsey Tuthill, the 2009 GNAC Rookie and Pitcher of the Year, for the first six innings, but Emerson plated three runs in the seventh to seal the victory and send the Lady Monks to the loser's bracket.

With the help of 15 hits and a solid effort from starting pitcher Christy Wezowicz, Saint Joseph's disposed of #4 Pine Manor College to advance to the championship against Emerson. The Lady Monks fared slightly better against Tuthill this time around and held a 1-0 lead after 5 ½ innings of play, but the Lions were able to punch runs across in the sixth and seventh frames off Kiera Walsh, who allowed five hits with three strikeouts, to collect the GNAC title. A trio of Saint Joseph's players, Alyssa Dunn '11 (Standish, ME), Anna Willis '10 (Gorham, ME) and Wezowicz , were named to the All-Tournament Team.

After the heartbreaking tourney loss, St. Joe's headed to Waterville, ME to take on Colby College in a non-conference doubleheader. The two-game set was the last for Colby Head Coach Dick Bailey , the former Saint Joseph's softball coach and 2008 SJC Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, as it was announced that he would retire following the 2009 season. The Lady Monks, at 28-12 and in search of the program's fifth 30-win season, won the first game 8-0, but dropped the nightcap, 4-0, as Bailey capped his illustrious career with a victory and a 443-296-3 record.

On May 4th the ECAC Championship Tournament teams were announced and Saint Joseph's was selected as the #3 seed. The Lady Monks hosted #6 Plymouth State at Ward Park on May 6 th in a pitcher's duel between Walsh and PSC starter Courtney McFarland. The game stood at a 1-1 stalemate after freshman designated hitter Ashley Geel (St. George, ME) drove home a run with a double in the fourth, but McFarland did not allow a single St. Joe's runner to reach base in the final three frames. The Panthers scored the go-ahead run in the sixth and went on to capture a 2-1 victory to bring the Lady Monks' season, as well as their attempt to win 30 games, to a close.

With the loss, the SJC softball program bid farewell to a pair of outstanding players, outfielders Alysn Ludwig (Waldoboro, ME) and Liz Jordan (Sandwich, MA). Ludwig capped her career as the program leader in stolen bases (61) and, with 139 runs, tied Cindy Kamszik '96 for the St. Joe's career record. Jordan , who transferred in as a junior, played two years for the Lady Monks and hit .335 with 25 stolen bases, the eighth-highest total in SJC career history.

Many players posted strong individual campaigns in 2009:

• Leverone enjoyed one of the finest seasons in St. Joe's softball history. She hit .547 (75-137) with 41 runs, 50 RBI, 17 doubles, eight home runs and slugged .920 with a .577 on-base percentage. Her batting average was the second-highest in all of NCAA DIII Softball, while her slugging percentage ranked seventh and her OBP ranked eighth. She set new SJC single-season records for batting average, hits, doubles, home runs and slugging and collected All-GNAC First Team, NFCA All-Northeast Region Second Team and ECAC Second Team honors following the season.
• Jordan closed out her career with a brilliant senior season. The swift outfielder hit .353 (42-119) with 29 runs and 12 stolen bases en route to earning an All-Conference First Team nomination.
• Walsh captured Second Team All-Conference honors after leading the Lady Monks in virtually every pitching category in 2009. The sophomore hurler went 11-5 with a 1.58 ERA and 71 strikeouts, against just five walks, in 102 innings last season.
• Dunn , a Third Team All-Conference selection, batted .391 (45-115) with 18 runs, 28 RBI and 14 doubles while exhibiting outstanding defense at first base for the Royal Blue.
• van der Linden continues to make a case for being one of the best all-around shortstops in program history. The junior co-captain hit .315 (40-127) with 27 runs, 33 RBI and nine doubles as a middle of the order slugger for the Lady Monks. Perhaps more impressive than her solid offensive numbers was her defensive effort, as van der Linden made just four errors in 169 chances - and none in 94 chances in 24 conference games!
• Willis recorded a stellar junior season with a .363 (49-135) batting average, 28 runs, 12 RBI and nine stolen bases.
• Wezowicz and Kluna both pitched very well for Coach Smyth and provided the team with pitching staff depth seldom seen at any level. Wezowicz went 8-2 with a 2.41 ERA and Kluna went 8-7 with a 2.32 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 90 innings.

Although St. Joe's loses a pair of seniors who both made major contributions in their careers, the future looks bright. Seven starters, as well as the entire pitching staff, returns from a 29-14 campaign as Saint Joseph's looks to contend for the program's first GNAC crown in 2010.