The Lady Monks softball team enjoyed an immensely successful 2008 campaign. The young squad, led by lone senior Megan Farrell (Abington, MA), posted a 26-17 record to notch the fifth-most wins in program history. The women played a conference schedule for the first time since 2002 and went 19-7 in their inaugural season in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference to earn the #3 seed in the conference tournament. The successful season was capped by the program's first-ever ECAC New England Championship Tournament berth.

Individual accolades included GNAC First-Team honors for junior centerfielder Alysn Ludwig (Waldoboro, ME) and Second-Team honors for sophomore second baseman Jillian Kimball (Albany TWP, ME). Both players were named to the 2008 Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III New England Second Team and Ludwig was listed on the Division III New England All-Star Honorable Mention team by the New England Intercollegiate Softball Coaches Association.

Eleventh-year head coach Jamie Smyth and his team of eight freshmen, six sophomores, two juniors and one senior kicked off the season with the team's annual trip to Fort Myers, Florida to play a slate of 10 games in the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic.

The Lady Monks lost their first contest of the trip to Clark University (MA), 13-5, but the offense showed promise by rattling off 11 hits, including home runs by Liddy van der Linden (Worcester, MA) and Megan Farrell.

In the second game, freshman starting pitcher Kiera Walsh (Benton, ME) earned her first collegiate victory with a 6-4 nod over Rockford College (IL). Walsh allowed two earned runs and struck out six and Jillian Kimball and Alysn Ludwig both went 4-4 at the plate in the win.

The hard-luck Lady Monks went on to lose their next four games, three in extra innings, to fall to 1-5 on the young season.

St. Joe's would notch their second win when sophomore starting pitcher Christy Wezowicz (Granville, MA) led SJC to a 9-3 victory over Rockford College on March 7th. Wezowicz allowed three earned runs and six hits in the complete game performance to help stop the losing skid. Later that day the Lady Monks defeated Dominican University (IL) 10-2 in a mercy-rule contest to improve to 3-5. Starter Kiera Walsh struck out three and did not allow an earned run and Jillian Kimball knocked home three runs in the game.

The women won both of their games on the final day of their southern swing with the first win over RPI coming in dramatic fashion. RPI held an 8-3 lead after the four innings, but, with the help of a Liddy van der Linden grand slam, the Lady Monks rallied for 8 runs in the top of the sixth inning on their way to a 13-9 victory. With a 7-5 triumph over Olivet College in the nightcap, St. Joe's finished their trip with a 5-5 record.

Liddy van der Linden, Kiera Walsh and freshman Alyssa Dunn (Standish, ME) were named GNAC Player, Pitcher and Rookie of the Week for their efforts in the opening week of the season.

On March 24th the Lady Monks won a pair of conference games by a combined score of 18-1 over host-team Albertus Magnus College in the program's first league action in six seasons. Game one starting pitcher Christy Wezowicz fanned a career-high 12 batters and Kiera Walsh, the nightcap starter, tossed a one-hitter to help provide St. Joe's with a memorable entrance into the GNAC.

After a trio of confereCnce doubleheader splits on the road against Lasell College, Saint Joseph College and Emerson ollege, the Lady Monks returned to the friendly confines of Ward Park to host GNAC opponent Johnson and Wales University in the team's home-opener. The women swept the visiting Wildcats in a pair of mercy-rule contests, 8-0 and 14-1 to improve to 12-8 overall and 7-3 in conference play. Starting pitchers Wezowicz and Walsh combined to allow just six hits in 11 innings and the SJC lineup exploded for 35 hits, including five apiece from Liddy van der Linden and Megan Farrell.

After a split with GNAC rival Simmons College on April 8th, St. Joe's went on to play 14 games in nine days, beginning with a with a doubleheader at Emmanuel College on April 13th. The Royal Blue rallied to score seven runs in their final two trips to the plate to earn a 9-7 victory in the opener and game-two starter Christy Wezowicz threw five innings in a 10-1 mercy-rule victory to earn her fifth victory of the season. Jillian Kimball went a perfect 7-7 with six RBI's in the twinbill to help lift the Lady Monks to a 15-9 overall record (10-4 GNAC).

The Lady Monks continued their winning ways with a pair of victories over Daniel Webster College at home on April 15th. Freshman Cat DeSimone (Waterboro, ME) was 3-4 with a run and an RBI in the opener and starting pitcher Christy Wezowicz struck out five in a complete game shutout in the nightcap.

St. Joe's went on to earn a split in a pair of lopsided games with host-team Suffolk University on April 17th, losing game one 13-2 and winning the nightcap 23-2. Alysn Ludwig hit a three-run home run, her second career round-tripper, in game two and Cat DeSimone tallied 6 hits, 3 runs and 2 RBI's to lead a Lady Monks offense that notched 31 hits in the two-game set.

The Lady Monks traveled to Nashua, NH the following day to take on Rivier College, the eventual GNAC Tournament Champions. St. Joe's took advantage of three Raiders errors to score two runs in the sixth inning to win the opener in a pitcher's duel, 2-1. Starter Kiera Walsh earned the victory in the circle and struck out eight batters in the game. The Royal Blue suffered a difficult extra-innings loss in the nightcap, 5-4. Rivier tallied a pair of runs in the fifth inning to tie the game and scored the game-winner on a wild pitch in the ninth inning. Game-two hurler Christy Wezowicz struck out 9 batters in 8.1 innings and sophomore Anna Willis (Gorham, ME) recorded five hits in the twinbill.

Saint Joseph's was 19-11 overall and 14-6 in GNAC contests after the Rivier split and headed back to Standish to host conference opponent Pine Manor College on April 19th. St. Joe's lost the opener, 10-1, in a mercy-rule game, but got back on the winning track with a 5-4 come-from-behind victory in the nightcap. With two out in the sixth frame, freshman catcher Ellen Neff (Chester, VT) hit a line-shot, two-RBI single past the PMC second baseman to send home both sophomore Kayla Soucy (Colebrook, NH) and Megan Farrell and give St. Joe's a 5-4 lead. Christy Wezowicz notched her eighth win of the season and Alysn Ludwig and Alyssa Dunn tallied three hits apiece in the two games.

The Royal Blue used an offensive barrage to score 28 runs off 38 hits in a sweep over Norwich University at home on April 20th to improve to 22-12 overall and 17-7 in GNAC play. Anna Willis notched 7 hits and scored 7 runs in the two games and Jillian Kimball tallied 6 hits and 7 RBI's.

The Lady Monks concluded their nine-day stretch, as well as their conference schedule, the following day with a pair of victories over conference rival Mount Ida College, 2-1 and 4-0. Game-one starter Kiera Walsh scattered 3 hits and struck out 4 in game one to improve her season record to 14-5. Freshman Renee Leach (Shapleigh, ME) was 3-4 to lead all SJC hitters in game two and Christy Wezowicz notched her 10th win of the season in the victory.

A 9-3 loss to Southern Maine on April 23rd completed the Lady Monks' regular season schedule, as the women held a 24-13 overall record, 19-7 in GNAC games, heading into the conference playoffs.

St. Joe's opened their playoff run with a 4-2 loss to #6 seed Rivier College in the quarterfinal round. Sophomore shortstop Liddy van der Linden hit a solo home run in the second inning for the Lady Monks and was 2-4 in the losing bid. Starting pitcher Kiera Walsh fanned six and took the loss.

The Lady Monks kept their tournament hopes alive with a 3-0 triumph over Emerson College in a losers-bracket contest the following day. Starting pitcher Christy Wezowicz allowed just two hits in the shutdown performance to pick up her 11th win of the year and Liddy van der Linden went 3-3 with an RBI double in the SJC two-run first inning.

The SJC playoff run came to an end in the team's next game against #2 seed Simmons College. The Sharks used a five-run fifth inning to clinch a 6-5 victory and eliminate the Lady Monks from the tourney. Liddy van der Linden continued to swing a hot bat and was 2-4 with 2 runs, 2 RBI's and 2 doubles and Alysn Ludwig and Alyssa Dunn both went 2-4 in the setback.

Liddy van der Linden and Anna Willis were both named to the GNAC All-Tournament Team for their outstanding play in the tourney.

St. Joe's split with NESCAC opponent Colby College on May 3rd, losing the opener 7-1 and winning game two 9-5. Kiera Walsh improved to 15-7 on the season and Alyssa Dunn hit her first collegiate home run in the first inning to help provide St. Joe's with a triumph in the team's final regular season contest.

Two days later the Lady Monks found out that their season would continue. The women received the program's first-ever Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England tournament berth as the #7 seed and would take on #2 Keene State College on May 7th.

The tough Owls team proved to be too strong for the Lady Monks as the women suffered a well-played 4-0 loss to the Little East Conference opponent in the single-elimination tournament. Freshman Cat DeSimone was 2-4 at the plate and starter Kiera Walsh allowed three earned runs in five innings to take the loss, which saw the Royal Blue conclude the season with a 26-17 overall record.

Senior tri-captain Megan Farrell capped her career with an excellent final season and currently ranks eighth in career home runs (3) and ninth in RBI's (74). The team will miss her leadership and clutch hitting ability in 2009.

The successful 2008 campaign and postseason experience for the young group certainly will help springboard the Lady Monks into the upper-echelon of softball programs in the coming years, possibly as soon as 2009 with the addition of a talented class of incoming recruits. The confidence gained from the success achieved in the program's first year in the GNAC is likely to pay off next season.