ATHLETE OF THE WEEK HILLARY READ '98

Senior leftfielder Hillary Read has been a solid softball player for Harvard during her four years in a Crimson uniform. But she had never connected quite so solidly with the ball as she did last Friday afternoon.

The sweet-swinging Read had a day that any member of the 1927 New York Yankees would have been envious of, belting the first two home runs of her career. Her seven-RBI performance led Harvard to a doubleheader sweep of Holy Cross in their best-of-three Play-In Series and helped earn the Crimson its first-ever trip to the NCAA Regionals.

In the first game of the double dip, Read stepped to the plate with one on and one out in the bottom of the third inning. After a few pitches had gone by, she unloaded on the next ball that came her way and deposited the fluorescent green sphere behind the leftfield wall for career home run No. 1.

In the bottom of the sixth, with Harvard clinging to a slim 5-4 lead, Read came through again. Her bases-loaded single up the middle plated two runs and gave the Crimson some breathing room.

In the second game of the day, Read capped off a five-run fifth inning by the Crimson with her second tater, a three-run blast into left-center. She even outdistanced her first offering by sending the ball over a deeper part of the fence.

About the only thing Read didn't do was call her shots, but then, she isn't actually a member of the '27 Yankees and her name isn't Babe.

Her final stats for the day are impressive, to say the least: 4-for-6 with seven RBI and two runs scored. And to add some sugar to her already sweet week, Read was named to the All-Ivy Second Team on Monday.

The Crimson congratulates Read and the entire Harvard softball team on their historic accomplishment, and wishes them good luck at Amherst in the NCAA Regional this weekend.