Doctor, Doctor: Crimson Softball Takes on the Nation

Yesterday the Harvard softball team clinched its second Ivy title in three years and earned a return trip to the NCAA Tournament. When the NCAA Regionals begin on May 18th, the Crimson will be playing alongside the top competition in the nation.

With an 18-19 overall record, the Crimson should expect a low seed in one of the six-team NCAA Regionals. Each of the eight regional brackets plays a double-elimination tournament with the winner moving on to the College World Series.

Harvard's destination and potential next victims will be determined when pairings are made on May 14th.

Earlier in the year, Harvard took on nationally ranked competition in softball tournaments at Georgia and Virginia Tech. The Crimson started the season with a 4-15 record against the tough opposition.

But any NCAA opponent that chooses to look past Harvard because of that dismal start will be in for a big surprise.

"We're probably not gong to be a high seed, so we'll be going up against a tough team," Harvard Coach Jenny Allard said. "What more could you ask for? We'll be ready."

The early games of the season are an unfair basis of comparison between the Crimson and its national competition.

The terrible New England weather deserves part of the blame for Harvard's poor start. No team in the Northeast can find suitable outdoor playing conditions in March, so the softball season starts much later in this part of the country.

The teams Harvard faced down in Georgia and Virginia had played as many as 20 games more than the Crimson at that point. Harvard was still working the rust out of its system.

There is no question that the Crimson has improved since then.

"We're a much better team than we were in early March," Allard said. "I think they're all playing together. They're stepping up. They're doing a good job."

Even though playing such difficult competition so early in the year may make the Crimson's record look ugly, the lessons learned from those early- season tournaments improve Harvard's chances in the NCAA Regionals.

"I think the types of teams we faced early on, we'll face in the regionals," Allard said.

Because of the early season experience, any chance of the Crimson players being intimidated by the opponents they may play has been greatly reduced. After all, how intimidating can a game against top-ranked Northeast team Notre Dame (37-12) be when Harvard has already played Fresno State (44-11), the 1998 national champion?

Cornell--last year's Ivy champion--fared poorly in the NCAA Regionals. The Big Red failed to evade softball's eight-run mercy rule in either of its games, losing 8-0 to top seed Texas and 9-1 to fifth seed Michigan State.

The Crimson should fare much better as this year's Ivy representative.

Harvard came up with a solid NCAA performance in 1998. The Crimson opened with an 8-0 loss to top seed Oklahoma, but then came back with an 11-2 blowout of BC. In a rematch with the Sooners, the Crimson lost by a slim 3-0 margin.

The 1999 Cornell team posted a 41-9 record against weak competition going into last year's tournament. Playing non-conference games against Div. 3 Ithaca College may have been a good confidence booster, but they failed to prepare the Big Red for national level competition.

Harvard, on the other hand, knows what it needs to do to beat teams on the level of Fresno State.

"If we play like we know how to play, then we will go in and give it our best," pitcher Suzanne Guy said.

Harvard's solid defensive execution bodes well for the team's chances come tournament time.

The Crimson's near-flawless defense throughout the doubleheader bore a sharp contrast to the Big Green fielders who misplayed bunts and made a few mental errors.

The second game against Dartmouth was a good defensive test for the veteran Crimson infield, which consists of three seniors--Crystal Springer at third, Deborah Abeles at short, Ghia Godfree at first--and sophomore Cherry Fu at second.

Guy forced 17 ground balls, and Harvard did not misplay a single one.

The ground balls were hardly routine, either. Fu and Springer both had spectacular throws from their knees on the day. All seven times Abeles touched the ball, she was able to step up her throwing velocity when faced with a slow grounder or a speedy baserunner.

This Crimson defense can do more than just play ground balls. Harvard made two spectacular plays in the 3-2 Dartmouth loss which prove that its defense can compete with the best in the country.

The first came in the top of the fourth. With Dartmouth's Carrie Hoverman on third with one out, Jennifer Madsen slapped a ground ball to Crystal Springer.

Springer started to make like she would throw to first, causing Hoverman to jump off third.

Then Springer turned and stared down the baserunner. Hoverman paused for a moment like a deer in headlights, then made a desperate dive back to third. Springer snapped the ball to Abeles who made the tag at third.

The second great play came in the top of the seventh. With the speedy Madsen at third, Dartmouth's Kristen King effectively laid down a suicide squeeze.

The ball rolled to junior pitcher Chelsea Thoke, who rushed the ball to junior catcher Mairead McKendry at home. McKendry managed to lay down the tag just as Madsen slid into home.

The old adage "pitching and defense wins championships" has to be encouraging to Harvard, with Guy posting a three-hit shutout yesterday, and Thoke putting together 11 shutout innings in two games last weekend.

While the Crimson likely will not be taking home the national title this season, this team is certainly capable of stirring up some trouble.