Softball squad to compete in San Diego

By Mary Anne Sunseri

After four disappointing losses at a tournament at Stanford two weekends ago, the softball team came back with a bang by beating San Jose State and University of California at Davis last week. They are now 5-5 and travel to San Diego this weekend for a tournament.

"It's good to start the season off on a positive note, especially against teams you're supposed to beat like San Jose State," sophomore outfielder Jillian Cassel said.

The games against San Jose State marked the team's first matches at their home field at Marsalli Park. The Broncos made use of home field advantage by taking both matches 4-2 and 8-3.

From there, the team traveled to UC Davis, who had just recently lost to San Jose State. Santa Clara emerged with two wins against the Aggies. These successes trumped the memory of the previous week's losses.

The Broncos now have their sights set on next weekend's tournament in San Diego, where they will face teams from Utah, Central Michigan, Florida International, Georgia and Oregon State.

"One of the things that I'm most excited about is a lot of the teams in the tournament, and particularly the teams that we're going to play, are not teams we've seen much before," Head Coach Jaime Forman-Lau said. "I'm always excited to see teams from other parts of the country; to see how they do things, to challenge ourselves a little bit, to see what other competition is and to play somebody different."

This season is Forman-Lau's first as head coach. However, she is not at all unfamiliar with the team. She was one of the team's pitchers until she graduated from Santa Clara last year.

She has worked hard with the team and is confident about the remaining portion of the season.

"In light of the past four wins, I'd say our team is starting to realize the adjustments that need to be made: to increase their aggressiveness, and to play a little bit more confident, smart softball," Forman-Lau said.

Cassel agrees that the team has been doing well, and references team chemistry as a reason for its successes thus far.

"We know each other, we know how each other plays, we're confident in our abilities, and I think that our strongest point is just knowing what everyone can do and remain confident in your teammates," Cassel said.

Even with strong team bonds, the Broncos still have areas of improvement. Both Cassel and junior second baseman Jenny Brown agree that the team needs to focus on offense.

"We've talked a lot about being more aggressive offensively," Brown said.

The pitchers, freshman Jerrica Castagno and junior Liz Courter, are being asked to step up to more important team roles. Castagno pitched the first game against San Jose State and over half of the first game against UC Davis, while Courter pitched both second games against both teams.

Courter now has the opportunity to become the lead pitcher, following the footsteps of Head Coach Forman-Lau as a player.

"We've asked Liz to step up and fulfill a greater role than she has in the past," Forman-Lau said. "I think in terms of her composure and her confidence she's been fine, but she's struggling a little bit mechanically."

Forman-Lau did point out improvements in leadership that have been developing, though she did say that the emergence of more effective leadership would be something that the team needs more of on the whole.

"Our entire bench is doing a really good job of supporting their teammates, of really staying fired up during the game," Forman-Lau said. "One player in particular, Valerie Mock, has really stepped up from last year. She's always talking, always yelling, always trying to fire up her teammates, always pushing them to be better and to do the little things right."

Kate Goethals, a junior catcher, has also made improvements that have impacted the team.

"I've also seen her pick up, even from the fall 'till now, in her leadership and her work ethic in her attempts to make sure her team is fired up and that they're pushing themselves," Forman-Lau said.

While leadership in every player is a desired goal, Forman-Lau is confident that the team will go into the San Diego tournament well prepared and ready to play.

The team is excited to participate in the tournament but insists that the tournament is more than who wins or loses. The tournament represents an opportunity to show other teams what the Broncos are made of.

"We're not really looking for wins and losses right now," Brown said. "We're just looking at playing well."

Santa Clara softball's first game in the tournament will take place against Utah at 11 p.m in San Diego.

* Contact Mary Anne Sunseri at (408) 551-1918 or msunseri@scu.edu