By Emma Bynes
@emma_bynes4
After a shortened NEWMAC tournament appearance a year ago, and without an official head coach this season, the Springfield College softball team has a lot of questions to answer.
Last season, the Pride surged to a record of 16-4 in the NEWMAC and 29-10-1 overall – leading to Springfield’s first conference regular season title since 2013 – but ultimately fell to the loser’s bracket after just one game of the tournament and were eliminated shortly thereafter. This year, Graduate Assistant Sam Garcia thinks that anyone can take both their and MIT’s crowns. The Engineer’s have won back to back championships, and are gunning for a third.
“What’s so great about the NEWMAC is that there’s just competition all around,” Garcia says, “I think every team in our conference is capable of winning the whole thing.”
She believes that strength of schedule is going to prepare her team for another grueling tournament appearance.
Something the Pride can look forward to is their annual Florida trip, which happens over spring break. Garcia finds that the trip is imperative for team bonding. “We all really get to mix and just be with each other,” she said. “Our players have a player house so they get to be together the whole time, away from the coaches.”
The Pride will play eight games over six days, and Garcia tries to get her players “as many reps as possible,” to prepare for the season ahead.
The younger roster features 10 first year players and is paced by a senior and 3 graduate students — who Garcia expects leadership from and to “keep bringing the experience that they have from playing in this conference for so long…it’s an all hands on deck kind of season.”
The Pride play their first two games of the season in a non-conference clash against Williams on Saturday, March 8, in addition to another non-conference matchup on Sunday, March 9, against Hartford.
Photo Courtesy of Springfield Athletics