Softball team still fighting for conference title

By Jenna Hudson

As the Santa Clara Broncos softball team kicked off conference play this weekend against Portland State at their home field, Marsalli Park, optimism prevailed both on and off the field. The Broncos (14-20) are picked to finish second in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference (PCSC) behind Loyola Marymount University (20-8) and tied with Sacramento State (24-16).

They emerged from two days of doubleheaders against the Portland State Vikings with a 2-2 record. The two wins on Sunday, led by their ace pitcher, senior Jaime Forman-Lau, demonstrated a confident and balanced team that has potential to be very competitive in the PCSC for the remainder of the season.

Although the team currently has a losing record, they have overcome adversity and an extremely difficult schedule to get to where they are now. Head Coach Marcy Crouch feels optimistic about her team's chances of garnering success in conference play.

"I think we've done a good job of battling through a year full of adversity," Crouch said, referencing the injuries that have plagued the team and kept players out of the lineup.

Players agree. "A lot of valuable people have been injured but it never slowed down the team's intensity," sophomore Jessica Clee said. "It only made us want to play better."

Despite the injuries, Crouch still expects her team to be a top competitor. "We are in the top of the conference, absolutely," she said. "It's just going to be a battle to win it. There's no clear-cut best team in the conference so we're right there to battle for it."

Junior Vanessa Werner feels the same.

"I truly believe we have what it takes to win conference," she said. "Although our record isn't very flattering right now, it is not at all a reflection of how well we have played against some great competition."

And even with some top players out of the lineup, younger players have stepped up to fill their shoes.

"We have lost two great players to major injuries â€" Kelley Johnson and Lacey Smale," senior Rachel Sherman said. "I think everyone else is doing a great job and stepping up their game to fill the holes."

The small â€" yet loyal â€" fanbase, made up mostly of parents and friends, also is confident that the team can be successful in the PCSC.

Zach Coney, a junior at Santa Clara, recognized the team's strength of schedule contributed to many of their losses.

"The team has definitely improved with the freshmen brought in," Coney said. "They play hard and have had some unlucky breaks. They've also played a tough schedule against a lot of ranked teams."

Sherman agreed. "Although our record doesn't show it, we've competed very well often losing by only one run to top-ranked teams," she said.

Crouch, who is currently in her fifth season of coaching the team, scheduled a challenging preseason for her team on purpose.

"Coming off last year's season this team keeps getting better every year, so talent-wise we have a lot of talent," Crouch said. "And I think the only way to get better is to play against the best to prepare for conference and to give us a chance to make postseason."

Crouch believes this strategy of scheduling games against the best teams in the country will make her team better prepared to battle really tough teams in their own conference. This season, the Broncos have had to face tough Pac-10 schools like Stanford, Washington and defending-national-champions UCLA. Only one other team in the PCSC â€" Sacramento State â€" has a schedule comparable in difficulty to the Broncos' schedule thus far.

Sacramento State has also battled Pac-10 opponents Arizona State, Oregon and California, as well as some common opponents to the Broncos, including Iowa, Virginia and Pacific.

Team members also feel this strategy of scheduling a tough preseason works.

"I think it was difficult for us to start out losing so many games," Werner said. "Once we were able to look past our record, we started to realize that as long as we were playing well and improving each game, that it was OK to lose to a great team like UCLA. The positive side to playing such a tough preseason schedule is that it has prepared us well and put us in a position to compete for the conference title."

And even with the struggle of losing games, the Broncos have managed to pull off some exciting wins, including two over Pacific, ranked in the top 20, and a huge comeback win at home over Virginia where the team was down 6-0, illustrating the team's potential to win big games.

Crouch speaks with pride about their great comeback against Virginia.

"I've never been involved in a comeback like that in my playing career or in my coaching career," Crouch said. "And just to see the girls stay in the game and keep fighting was really promising."

Perhaps what makes this softball team unique as well, is that, according to Crouch, there is no one star player on the team.

"All the way through the lineup people have stepped up," Crouch said. "Really, it's been a team effort."

The team has come a long way since Crouch first came on board in the 11-win season of 2000. The team has gone from being a team that simply aimed to be competitive with the schools they played to being a team that wants to win, according to Crouch.

"No matter if we're playing the last-ranked team, or the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, we give them all that we have," Clee said. "Winning conference was so close to our fingertips last season that I know everyone this season will not expect anything less than to win conference."

û Contact Jenna Hudson at (408) 554-4852 or jhudson@scu.edu.