MCLA Softball Enjoying Successful Spring
 MCLA's Trailblazers are 18-19 going into the postseason. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts softball team had a shorter day than expected on Sunday.
That's OK. The Trailblazers' season will be longer than most would have expected.
MCLA made short work of Southern Vermont College on Zavatarro Field in what originally was scheduled to be a non-conference double-header.
Instead of a twin-bill, it was shortened to a single game, and instead of a full game, the contest ended in the bottom of the fifth inning when Drury High School graduate Megan Boyer crossed home plate to make it 8-0.
It was the third time in two days the 'Blazers ended a game via the "mercy rule."
The first two times came on the road, where MCLA beat up on Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Massachusetts Maritime to earn the second seed in this weekend's MASCAC conference tournament.
"It's awesome," Boyer said. "This is the first time in my four years we've made MASCAC. And anybody can win MASCAC this year. Nobody's better than anybody else. It's really exciting."
Boyer's team is proof positive of how wide open the MASCAC is this spring. MCLA owns a pair of wins against the conference tournament's top seed, Bridgewater State, and the 'Blazers head toward the postseason on a roll.
Pending the results of Monday's double-header against Williams, the Trailblazers (18-19) have won eight of their last nine games, including six wins in conference play.
Third-year coach Mike Ameen has MCLA on the brink of winning 20 games for the first time since 2001, when it went 23-15 and lost in the finals of the MASCAC tourney.
Boyer said the difference this spring has been the team unity fostered even before its training trip to Fort Myers, Fla.
"We get along so well — on the field, off the field, we're all like best friends," the Clarksburg resident and MCLA senior said. "It's really good to have one cohesive unit, and everyone's working together.
"Right off the bat, we just clicked right away. Even before we went down to Florida for spring training, we knew this would be the team that could get to MASCAC, and I think we can win it. It's really exciting."
Other than cohesion, the most notable difference on this year's team is the presence of eight freshman, including the ace of MCLA's pitching staff, Hoosick Falls, N.Y.'s, Rachel Quackenbush, who started the academic year as a scholarship athlete at Division I Siena College.
Quackenbush is 8-6 in the circle with a 1.43 earned run average. She pitched nine innings in the two-game sweep of Bridgewater State, going the distance in one game and combining with Adams' Amanda Meczywor for a 2-0 win in the other.
In all, MCLA has four pitchers who have at least 41 innings apiece this season, including senior Ainsley MacDonald, who got the win on Sunday, and St. Joseph graduate Rayelle Pierson.
Offensively, the team is led by freshman Michaela DiNicola of Mount Greylock, who is hitting .355. But one of the real noticeable stats for MCLA this spring is games played. All but two Trailblazers (Quackenbush and MacDonald) have at least 20 appearances in the team's 37 games.
Ameen said dividing the playing time among his 16 players is a key to the team's success.
"The depth and the athleticism of the team is much different this year," Ameen said. "We play everybody. Everybody contributes. Even in this short game, I had 15 kids in the game, and they all contributed.
"Last year, I had one [pitcher]. This year, I have four, which is a nice problem to have. They all get their innings, and they all perform when they're asked to get out there. That's a great thing, actually."
Another great thing: the way MCLA's few veterans have embraced the waves of newcomers the last couple of years.
"They did come together as a team, and [Boyer] was a big part of the reason why, she and my two captains: Kendra [Hobbs] and Ainsley [McDonald]," Ameen said. "It was such a young team. There's only three seniors and no juniors.
"What happened was those three seniors just took them under their wing and made them feel comfortable. They had a great time in Florida and started to jell together off the field. It's translated on the field, and it's a good thing to see."
Tags: college sports, MASCAC, MCLA sports, softball,
