Lady Lions Softball: Shocking the NEWMAC
Brief column on the success of the 2017–18 Emerson Softball Team. Nobody believed in them, due to recent history, but they continue to believe in themselves. From Freshman stepping up, to Seniors making noise, these girls are beginning to change the culture that has surrounded the program since its very beginnings.
I will be the first to admit I did not think the success would last. Boy was I wrong. And so was everyone else. In a preseason coaches poll (pictured below) the Lady Lions were predicted to finish dead last. They not only did better than that, they made the playoffs! This is the first softball team in Emerson History to accomplish such a feat.
First of all I would like to ask what the hell the Coaches were thinking since this was way off. Here is another picture from the NEWMAC website that shows how the NEWAC really shaped up for the 2017–18 season.
The Emerson Lions won 8 conference games! Including huge victories over 2nd seeded WPI, 3rd seeded Babson, and 4th seeded Springfield. These were all major victories the only struggles were in the games they were supposed to win. They were swept by Coast Guard who is only one spot above them in the bracket, as well as losses to Wellesley and Clark who did not have good seasons.
They sent the postseason race right down to the wire, losing to Clark 6–0 on April 20th and the next day to Wheaton in Game 1 of the doubleheader 4–3. This would send them to a sudden death game with Wheaton for the Final spot.
This would be a back and forth battle between the 2 teams. Emerson would take a 2–1 advantage into the bottom of the 6th inning when Wheaton poked a single to knot it up at 2. The game would go to extras where Freshman Lindsey Lowe would hit a sac fly in the top of the 8th to give the Lions a 3–2 advantage. The Lyons would tie it up in the bottom of the inning and then Freshman Maddie Tomich would come up with the biggest hit of the season by knocking a go-ahead single down the left field line. Freshman Neely Eddleston would finish the game, secure her 14th win of the season, and send the Lions to the tournament.
I know, if you’re reading this you probably don’t understand the severity of this but this is probably one of the biggest turnarounds in NEWMAC history. This is the same team who won only 2 games in conference and 9 games overall in 2017, finishing (9–23). Dead Last in the conference. They won 11 more games overall and 6 in conference to put them at 20–12. That is actually unbelievable. The craziest part is they did it with 10 position players!
Now I know you are probably wondering where all of this success is coming from, boy do I have statistics to back up what I am saying. The team batting average? .295. On Base percentage? .373. Slugging Percentage? .431. All of this to go along with 19 bombs! They had 248 hits as a team which led to 174 runs, these girls absolutely know how to MASH!
On defense? You guessed it. Stellar as well. 37 errors in 32 games, giving the Lions a .961 fielding percentage overall. These stats are absurd and you don’t believe here is a link that will tell you these are legit: http://emersonlions.com/sports/sball/2017-18/teams/emerson?view=lineup&r=0&pos=
In terms of certain individual standouts on the year, this is even crazier.
Senior Center Fielder Jackie DeFusco has 39 hits in 96 at bats for the team. This puts her batting average at .406, which is 11th in the entire NEWMAC. Of these 39 hits, 16 of them are for extra bases. 10 doubles, 5 homers, and a triple. her 5 home runs place her at 5th in the NEWMAC. All of this to go along with 24 rbi’s, to put her 12th in that category. Keep an eye on the NEWMAC All-Conference teams as you will probably see her name.
Another player who is continuing to find success but many people would say is slumping, is Junior Catcher, First Baseman, and Third Baseman. She was a member of the 2017 NEWMAC All-Conference First Team just a year ago hitting .354 with 11 bombs and 30 rbi’s. This year, the expectations were high again but I would say she has done just fine with 33 hits, 8 of which are doubles and 4 that are home runs. This is good enough for 8th in Home Runs and her 28 rbi’s land her the 10th spot in that category while still hitting .324. It’s not as much of a lock as last year, but don’t be surprised if she sneaks onto a NEWMAC conference team in consecutive years.
Then there is what I like to call The Triple Threat. Neely, Lindsey, and Madeline. These girls did it all this year from dropping absolute bombs, to tossing complete games, to throwing out runners from behind the dish.
First there is the Pitcher, Neely Eddleston. In case you don’t know this in softball, since it is a natural throwing motion, pitchers can pretty much pitch every game. I personally didn’t believe this until I saw what Neely did this season. Of the 18 conference games the Lions played, Neely pitched in 14 of them. Second Highest on the team was Marisa DeFranco with 7. Neely had 11 starts in conference and went 6–6 with a 4.43 era while striking out 39 NEWMAC hitters along the way. As for the NEWMAC statistical leaders, she is 7th in innings pitch with 106, 2nd in wins with 14, 2nd in appearances with 25, and 7th overall with 67 strikeouts. I don’t know if I am just being optimistic or bias here, but Neely seems like a prime candidate to make an All-Conference Team.
Then there is the Catcher or Utility player as she is referred to on the roster, Lindsey Lowe. This girl does it all. With the stick, she collected a team leading 41 hits which is 14th in the conference, this put her average at .387 which was good enough for 18th in the conference, to go along with 8 doubles and 2 home runs. This all to go along with only 1 error in the field where she has played four positions, giving her a .988 fielding percentage. She will more than likely be a bubble player for an All-Conference team since she doesn’t really lead the conference in any category but is relevant in all of them. I just hope they don’t forget about her when voting comes around.
Madeline Tomich rounds out the Triple Threat. She is as pure a hitter as they come. In just 72 at bats (7th most out of 10 hitters on the Lions) she was able to produce 27 hits while maintaining a .375 average. 13 of these were for extra bases, 8 doubles and 5 long balls, putting her slugging percentage at .694. In terms of the conference leaders she is 5th in Home Runs, 5th in Slugging percentage and 17th in doubles. On top of this all she is lighting quick on the bases, going a perfect 9 for 9 on stolen base attempts during the season to lead the team. I don’t know if she can make an All-Conference Team this time around, but she is definitely on the bubble and will more than likely be a player who finds her name on the list in the upcoming years.
The NEWMAC Playoffs begin for the Lions on Wednesday, May 1st as they will take on the Number 3 seeded Babson Beavers who they already beat once this season. The Brackets can be found below. It will be interesting to see just how far these girls will go this season, but one thing is for certain they have the entire NEWMAC on notice for the years to come.
