Softball Finishes Second in Ivies

The Harvard softball team was often-times brilliant this season, but its inconsistency kept it from a successful Ivy repeat bid.

The Crimson came up just short, falling in a decisive game to eventual league champion Cornell, 3-1, near year's end. That game came on the heels of a roller-coaster season that saw Harvard struggle offensively at times but play splendidly at others.

"We fought through a lot of adversity this year," co-captain Terri Teller said. "We had a number of injuries and a very young pitching staff."

The season began in typical fashion for Harvard as the team faced some of the nation's top competition in California over spring break. The Crimson returned from its trip with a 4-11 record and on a seven-game losing streak. Some of the losses came courtesy of national powerhouses, such as Fresno State and Cal. State-Fullerton.

Road tested but not weary, the Crimson returned to the friendly Northeast where it ripped through its competition and reeled off eight straight wins. Then the bats went cold, and the Crimson suffered.

Harvard lost three straight games, all non-conference contests, and mustered only one run during that stretch. The Crimson bounced back with a doubleheader sweep of Penn to run its Ivy record to 6-0, but the winds of change blew for Harvard the following day.

The Crimson split a twin bill with Princeton, dropping the opener 1-0 before taking the night-cap, 10-1. Being shut out by a squad that it lit up for 10 runs just hours later would come back to haunt Harvard.

"Our lineup, top to bottom, was a lot stronger than it has been in years past," Teller said, "but we had a few too many games where we couldn't string hits together. That was our main weakness."

After a pair of tough defeats at Rutgers, the Crimson faced undefeated Cornell late in April. The situation was simple: Harvard needed to sweep Cornell to secure the Ivy League title. With each team only having lowly Dartmouth left on its schedule, even a split would cost Harvard the championship.

The Crimson responded to the pressure in fine fashion. Harvard took the first game 2-0 behind a gem from Ivy League Player of the Year Chelsea Thoke, who hurled a two-hitter.

In the second game, each team scored one run in the sixth inning to send the game into extra innings. Cornell won on a two-run triple in the top of the eighth. But Harvard had had two opportunities to win another Ivy title.

On two separate at-bats in different innings, sophomore Mairead McKendry and junior co-captain Deborah Abeles sent blasts off the right-field fence that stayed in the park only by inches. There was a tremendous wind blowing in from right on that day at Soldiers Field, and without that wind, both McKendry's and Abeles's hits would have been home runs.

Harvard finished 10-2 in the Ivy League, just one game behind first-place Cornell at 11-1.

"We put out a strong performance in the first game [versus Cornell]," Teller said. "If only we had scored a run early in the second game. We were so close, but we couldn't put anything together."

Still, the Crimson can boast of a very successful season: a 20-18 record, a second-place finish in the Ivies and a host of postseason honors.

Thoke earned Player of the Year by recording a league-high seven conference wins with a 1.16 ERA. Joining her on the All-Ivy First Team as a unanimous choice was Abeles, the only Harvard player to hit over .400 this year (.411).

Also named to the First Team were Teller, McKendry and freshman utility player Sarah Koppell. Junior Jessie Amberg was the Crimson's lone representative on the All-Ivy Second Team. Junior Ghia Godfree and senior Tara LaSovage received Honorable Mention All-Ivy accolades.

Harvard graduates four seniors this year: Teller, LaSovage, Karen Rice and Meredith Bagley, who may be the best defensive player in the Ancient Eight. But the Crimson also returns a great deal of talent.

Back are Abeles and Thoke, whose numbers speak for themselves. Also back are Godfree, McKendry, Amberg and Harvard's entire pitching staff. Several freshmen also made immediate impacts this year, including Koppel, outfielder Lisa Watanabe and utility player Cherry Fu.

"I'm excited to see how they do next year," Teller said. "A lot of younger players proved themselves this season, and Chelsea had a tremendous year. They have even more potential than we did this year."

After another successful season, Harvard will bid farewell to its seniors and gear up for its attempt to unseat Cornell at the top of the Ivy standings in 2000.

SOFTBALL

RECORD: 20-18, 10-2 Ivy

COACH: Jenny Allard

CAPTAINS: Deborah Abeles, Terri Teller

KEY PLAYERS: Chelsea Thoke (11-10, 2.31 ERA, 132 strikeouts), Abeles (.411 batting average), Teller (.363 1 HR, 26 RBI)