Through the first 45 games of the season, the team stood with a record of (26-19) and fifth in the conference. With an important series coming up against Florida Southern from April 20-21, the team felt this would be the opportunity to move up in the conference, and try to improve their case for a spot in the regional tournament.
Lesa Boneé, head coach, said the team has picked it up since the Rollins series on March 9-10 and have been playing their best all year. She said that she expects the team to finish fourth in the conference, and that it would not automatically lead to an appearance at regionals. Florida Southern is one of the teams fighting for the same spot, and that’s why Boneé stressed the significance of the matchup. She said the team needs work on their consistency. However, there are several components she’s been pleased with.
“There [are] some aspects of the offensive game that are doing very well,” said Boneé. “Laura Saladrigas surpassed her home run single-season record. The short game has been very good to us this year. I’m very pleased with that, because my freshmen Lorena Spaulding and Melanie Spicola have done a great job with that, and we flipped Jaimee Vega around also and she’s done well.”
The team has already surpassed their home run total from last year, and they have posted the most hits in the conference. Lorena Spaulding, freshman leftfielder, has set the tone for the offense in the leadoff spot and has been working everyday with her coaches to improve her hitting.
She said her first week was a rough one, but thanked her teammates for helping push her and overcome it. Spaulding credited Boneé for her success at the plate.
“Coach Boneé just always [harping on] us about hitting and doing mechanics right,” said Spaulding.
Sara DeMuth, senior pitcher, has pitched the most innings in the conference and struck out the most batters as well. Boneé said the more DeMuth pitches the better she gets. DeMuth’s teammates have been impressed by her performance. Katie Kelton, senior centerfielder, is one of those teammates.
“Sara has astounded all of us. Her pitching is phenomenal. I saw her potential last year and knew she was a great pitcher, but I’m still surprised with how well she has done in the standings,” said Kelton.
For the team to have success against Florida Southern, Kelton felt the offense needs to be more consistent.
“I think we just need to improve on being consistent at the plate. Just the flow of us all; we get in little moods where we will flow and gel, but then times we fall out of it. So, I think just us staying focused on the one goal, one agenda and continuing one through nine at the plate,” she said.
Boneé said the team is ready for this critical stretch of the season.
“They’re intelligent women, they realize it’s crunch time. We have to take care of our own destiny. We can’t rely on other people beating other people. We have to win games that we can win,” she said.
