Softball team eyes regionals as season commences
By Grant Hughes
The Santa Clara Broncos softball team will begin the 2004 season this weekend at a tournament hosted by University of California, Santa Barbara. Coming off of their best season since 1986, Santa Clara faces an extremely difficult slate of games down south.
"We've scheduled some very good teams because we're trying to prepare ourselves for some of the strong teams we hope to face in the postseason," Head Coach Marcy Crouch said. "Our goal this year, from the start, has been to reach regionals and have some success there."
The difference between this year's team and last year's, according to Crouch, is that there is a sense of focus and determination. With returning veterans and a crop of incoming players who, for the first time in recent Bronco history, are joining a winning program, the team has a specific purpose.
"The difference this year is that we really know we can make regionals. Last year, I'm not sure we fully believed that," Crouch said.
If preseason play this fall is any indication, the Broncos are entitled to their newfound sense of belonging. Against the perennially tough Stanford Cardinal, Santa Clara posted a solid 2-1 victory on Nov. 7. Sophomore second baseman Jenny Brown was the difference, providing a two-run homerun in the seventh inning.
"Jenny [Brown] will be looked to as a player to step up this year, along with Jessica Clee," Crouch said. "Jenny has been the one to fill the void of Roni Rivera ('03) as well."
Rivera, a vocal leader on the past few Bronco teams, left a void in the leadership department that Brown has embraced. The fate of this year's team will be strongly influenced by how effectively the players fill the vacated roles of last year's leaders, like Rivera. This year, the team will be characterized by different faces assuming familiar roles.
One thing that will remain the same in 2004 will be the Broncos' reliance on senior hurler Jaime Forman-Lau, the 2003 Pacific Coast Softball Conference Pitcher of the Year.
"Jaime's [Forman-Lau] obviously a great talent, but she leads with her work ethic as well. She's definitely a vitally important piece of our team," Crouch said.
Though the Broncos do possess a solid core of young players, there may be a sense of urgency this year, as this is Forman-Lau's final year on the Mission Campus. "With this being our last year with Jaime, we're looking to really take advantage of having her here.Ã She's an asset that we can't take for granted," said Crouch.
With games this year against defending national champion UCLA, No. 2 California, No. 5 Washington and No. 12 Stanford, the Broncos will find out quickly if they really can compete with the nation's elite teams. This weekend's games will serve as a measuring stick, with match-ups against No. 23 Oregon State, UC Santa Barbara, Long Beach State and Illinois-Chicago.
"These are games we're hoping to use as a way to prepare ourselves for the types of teams we need to beat if we want to achieve our goals this year," Crouch said.
û Contact Grant Hughes at (408) 554-4852 or ghughes@scu.edu.