GW and Senior Day...

The day started out extremely disappointing.  We have had chance after chance this year to demonstrate our will to win and unfortunately we have not met that challenge very well.  As a coach, you want to believe you have answers but for this one I can't sugar coat it...We got beat...plain and simple.  We did not put up much of a fight or effort and any aspect of the game.  All we can do from this point on is keep trying to find the winning combination of talent and attitude.  At the end of the day...it is totally my responsibility as Head Coach.  After all we have been through...we still have a shot, it just takes us playing our best for 4 games in Philadelphia.  I can't ask for anything more than our best but we have to be willing to give nothing but our best.  If we do that, I can live with any result. 

The Day ended much better than it started.  We celebrated our five seniors, Ashley Nowak, Brittany Storch, Diana Phalon, Kristin Sullivan and Brooke Frey.  All five have stuck out their four years through good and tough times.  They have supported each other at every move and have become friends for life.  The pictures are of our celebration of their senior day and the celebration dinner that followed.  In order: Ashley Nowak, Diana Phalon, Brittany Storch, Kristin Sullivan and Brooke Frey.  Congratulations, Ladies!

I want to thank all the parents that brought food that helped make the day so special and for Rick Rohan for taking and sharing these pictures.

SBU vs GW

26 hours and counting...till Senior Day and our games verses GW.

Fordham/LaSale Post Game Report

Christine Watson was 8-13 with 2 home runs

We traveled to NYC and Philly last weekend in search of at least two wins to keep us in the hunt for the A10 championsips.  Playing Fordham is always a challenge.  They have one of the best pitchers in the country and are a very well coached team.  We did not play poor softball they just beat us.  We were limited to just six hits on the day with Christine Watson going 2-5 on the day. 

We moved the Sunday games verses LaSalle to Saturday to beat the storm that was brewing.  I am one that never ducks a game.  I will play them at a neutral site or I will even switch locations to play.  The most imporant thing we should accomplish in this conference is to get EVERY game played that can be played.  Unfortunately, that does not always happen.  We were fortunate enough to play on Saturday.

Saturday was a crazy day.  Our first game was an 10 inning nail biter with some amazing plays and more amazing hits.  The Bonnies pounded out 13 hits which 4 or them were home runs.  Brooke Frey, Ashley Snider, Christine Watson and Brittany Storch all went deep.  It was Storch's three run home run in the 10th inning that catapulted the Bonnies to victory.  It was senior Brittany Storch's first career home run and it could not have come at a better time!  Jen Sansano earned the victory going all 10 innings.  She gutted out a tough day and showed that even when she is not at her best she can still win.  That is a mark of a good pitcher.   We need to make a few more plays behind her as only 3 of the 8 runs were earned but we win and lose as a team.  Sometimes the pitcher has to take up the slack and vice versa.  This game had it all...it was a team win in the purest sense.

Game two was highlighted by a the hot hitting of Christine Watson and Ashley Snider.  Both Watson and Snider went deep again to help us to a 12-4 victory.  Diana Phalon got the win.  Christine had the best weekend of her young career.  The sophomore went 8-13 with 2 home runs and 5 RBI.  The wins moved our A10 record to 6-8 and 17-19 over-all.  With games against George Washington University this Saturday...we are looking to even our record at 8-8 and keep us very much in the hunt for the A10 championships in St. Louis Missouri in 2 1/2 weeks.  I hope to see every one there! 

Charlotte Recap...

Lost 5-4 (8)...Lost 5-0. We managed the game pretty well and had a 4-1 lead in the 5th. We just did not play well enough to win and Charlotte capitalized like every good team would. We had our chances but in the end it was not enough. There were some bright spots and Brooke Frey continued to hit well and has become the leader I always knew she could be. Hali Enderby also got into the swing of things with 3 hits on the game.

Game 2 was dominated from beginning to end by Charlotte. Diana Phalon did all she could in the circle but we struggled again on defense. It's not from a lack of trying...we just need to work through it and we get back to work on Tuesday when we face Canisius starting at 3pm at SBU. Hope to see a good crowd. Looks like sunshine will be returning to Olean just in time.

This team has a chance to break the record for most wins in a season by any SBU softball team. 10 more wins will get them to the most ever. With a good second half of the A10 season...we also have a great chance at still making a legit run at the A10 championships. It's ALL up to us no matter what anyone else does. Just the way I like it! GO BONAS!!

NEXT UP...

THE
CHARLOTTE
49ERS

4/14/2012 12pm & 2pm

Catching Up....

I apologize for the lack of posts recently. I was focused in on the season and with the start of the A10 slate and our first home games of the year, I had a lot to do. Being a coach at SBU requires to go above and beyond so when the home slate starts, I become not only the head coach but grounds crew and game day set up man.

It was quite the weekend with Rhode Island and Umass in town. Rhody came in riding a pretty impressive 4 out of 5 wins and that made me a bit nervous but when the bell rang, the Bonnies came out swinging. A great game pitched by Jen Sansano and a 3-run homerun my junior captain Jessenia Andujar gave us a quality 3-1 win in game 1. Game two was once again dominated by Jen Sansano until the 7th inning when URI made a 6-1 game a 6-5 nail biter. Senior Diana Phalon came in and shut the door. She is one of the most mentally tough softball players I have ever coached on the field. She hates to lose and gets every ounce out of herself in big situations. Our wins moved us to 4-2 on the young conference season.

Sunday was a bit different. Umass came to town playing with a purpose. Head Coach Elaine Sortino made her fight with cancer public and for the first time in my 16 years, she was not on the opposite bench. I have to say...it was a bit strange. Umass dominated the games and came away with 2 wins. The Bonnies did what we had to do. We made sure we were at least .500 and in one of the 6th playoff spots headed into this coming weekend with Charlotte. Losing is NEVER a good thing but the positive we take out of it is that most likely everyone is losing to Umass. So we should not lose any ground to anyone ahead of us because of the two losses.