Softball Finishes Strong

For the first time in Cambridge this year, the Harvard women's softball team had some good weather to play in.

And for the first time this season, the Crimson (21-16 overall, 3-7 Ivy) was able to squash an Ivy League opponent, as it whipped league doormat Dartmouth, 12-3 and 13-3, last Saturday at Soldiers Field.

Unfortunately, this was also the last time this year that Harvard would be able to put these components together, as Saturday's twinbill capped the 1993 season.

It was nice to play in some good weather finally," junior Christine Vogt said. "It's a shame the season is over."

The Crimson's 21 victories marked the third straight year that the team has posted 20 or more wins, a new school record.

Despite the wins, the players described this season as somewhat disappointing.

"We had a lot of talent on this team," senior Christine Carr said. "However, we just didn't win the big games, I think we may have psyched ourselves out."

After losing two close games to Ivy champion Yale on April 24, the Crimson was annihilated by Princeton last weekend, eliminating any chance it had at an Ivy League title.

"We could have done better," freshman Amy Reinhard said.

Regardless of its failures against Ivy League opponents, Harvard managed to win seven of its final eight games, a streak which should give the team some confidence for next year.

Carr pitched two complete games in the Dartmouth doubleheader, allowing only five runs in 14 innings in her final appearance for Harvard.

"Coach [Barry Haskell] said that he would start me in the first game," Carr said, "and since I was the only senior pitcher on the team, he let me go as long as I could."

The first game was a tight affair in the early innings, as the teams were tied, 3-3, after three. However, the Crimson took complete control of the game with four runs in the fourth and four more in the fifth, as it cruised to the 12-3 victory.

Reinhard connected on a solo blast out of the ballpark, the team's first home run at Soldiers Field this weekend.

"I was surprised by the home run," Reinhard said, "but it was like taking batting practice out there."

The second game was all dominating by Harvard, as it scored three runs in each of the first two innings and put up a five-spot in its final at-bat.

Junior Nicole Desharnais led the assault with the team's second homer of the day.

Carr was as solid at the place as she was on the mound, notching a single and a triple in the sixth inning, as the team batted around the order for the fourth time in the doubleheader.

"Everbody got to play," Vogt said. "It was nice to end the season on a good note."

This was the first year that Dartmouth fielded a varsity softball team.