Softball fights hard for playoffs

The softball team is in an intense battle for a playoff spot after losing their last three games. The losses were not what the team or head coach Dave Sylvester were looking for. 

“This team is working hard and looking to peak at the end of the year,” Sylvester said. “We have an uphill battle left to make the playoffs, but I believe if we can win five games in the next eight games, we will make it to the SUNYACs.” 

Geneseo was only able to win three of the eight games, however, of which Sylvester spoke. Two of the wins came on the road at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The Knights then dropped two games to the Buffalo State College Bengals. 

The team then sought two easy wins against low ranked SUNY Fredonia, but only managed to take the first of two games. Following the upsetting performance, the Knights then faced the Alfred University Saxons on the road; their struggles continued when the Knights lost both of those games. 

This set of losses was certainly a frustrating one for the Knights, as their conference record dropped to 6-8. Despite currently having a losing record, Geneseo is still on the hunt for a playoff spot. The current setup of the SUNYACs demonstrates the possibility for the Knights to snap a six—or even a five—seed in the playoffs, but the Knights need two things: wins and luck. 

The top six teams with the best conference record are granted a playoff spot in the SUNYACs. The Knights are currently sitting in seventh place, right ahead of SUNY Brockport, Fredonia and SUNY Potsdam in that order. Potsdam and Fredonia have both been eliminated from the playoffs, but are still a major threat—especially seeing as Fredonia served the Knights a loss on Sunday April 23. Buffalo holds the six seed, making the Knights’ two losses to the Bengals even more detrimental to their playoff hopes.

Looking ahead, the Knights do not have a particularly easy schedule. They host the SUNY Oswego Lakers on Friday April 28 at 3 p.m. and at 5 p.m. and then the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons on Saturday April 29. 

All four games are must-wins, none of which will be easy. The Lakers are in a tie for fourth place with a 9-5 record and the Red Dragons are comfortably at the top of the conference standings, only raking up one conference loss in their past 15 games.  

So what needs to happen? The Knights need to drive runners in. They are leaving too many players on base in crucial situations, which is causing them to win close ball games. The Knights have been shut out twice in conference play the entire season, showing that they are swinging the bats well, but ultimately failing to come up successful in clutch situations.

Seven of the 22 players on the team are batting above a .300 average. Geneseo’s pitching, too, has been top notch.

Not only is it important, however, that the Knights win—the other teams need to lose, too. The Bengals are the team the Knights are chasing; they will face SUNY Plattsburgh on Friday April 28 to wrap up their season. Realistically, the Bengals will rack up at least one win, making it that much more important for the Knights to secure victories. 

Geneseo’s chances of going to the SUNYACs, which begin on Thursday May 4, are not completely farfetched, but they are nowhere near secure.

Softball faces tough competition on the road

The Geneseo women’s softball team will look ahead to brighter days after struggling during away games.  

The Knights had high hopes this past weekend as they took on New Paltz on Friday April 14 and the SUNY Oneonta Red Dragons on Saturday April 15. Their goals were not quite reached, however, as they managed to only come out of the weekend with one win.    

There were quite a few factors that may have played a role in the Knights’ 1-3 weekend. For starters, fatigue is a prime culprit for not producing the desired outcome. Geneseo traveled over four hours on a bus to New Paltz to start a weekend where they would be playing two double headers for a total of four games. That alone can take a toll on an individual. 

If that wasn’t enough, the Knights then traveled two and a half hours to Oneonta, only to have to be up by 8 a.m. to gear up to face the Red Dragons. 

“Whenever you travel that far, the bus can take a little out of you,” head coach David Sylvester said.

It would be inaccurate to place all the blame on fatigue, tho≠≠ugh. The women simply didn’t produce the way they have been accustomed to this entire season. 

“Our biggest issue was the lack of offense. As a team, we hit the ball all weekend, but left a number of runners on base,” Sylvester said. 

The team gathered many hits over the weekend, but weren’t able to capitalize on them. Leaving runners on base seemed to be the motif, as the Knights left a total of 26 runners on base over the course of the four games.

Going forward, the Knights will have to put up some wins in order to make the playoffs, as they currently sit at sixth place in the SUNYACs with a 5-5 in conference record. It will be vital for the women to have success starting on Friday April 21, as they are scheduled to play four conference games. 

The Knights will head to Fredonia to take on the SUNY Fredonia Blue Devils for a double header starting at 3 p.m. on Friday April 21. Fredonia is having a season to forget, only tallying one win in conference play. The next day the Knights travel to Buffalo to take on the Buffalo State Tigers. That matchup will be a little more eventful, as the Tigers and Knights are neck and neck in the SUNYAC standings.

The Knights will need to drive in more runs and to keep the bats popping to come out successful. The team has recalibrated their offense since the losses to Oneonta, according to Sylvester. 

“We will be concentrating this upcoming week on preparing to hit the ball harder and more consistently,” Sylvester said.  

Although the Knights are in need of a few wins, Sylvester has remained optimistic and enthusiastic about his team. 

“We are a young team who is learning how to play together as the season has gone on. The communication has been something we have worked on and are getting better at doing,” Sylvester said. “We have an uphill battle left to make the playoffs, but I believe if we can win five games in the next eight games we will make it to the SUNYACs.”

Softball takes advantage of nice weather

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Sophomore catcher Anna Merante steps up to bat at a home game.  The women have maintained an impressive 11-3 record, and they hope to add more victories this upcoming weekend against SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Plattsburgh. (Ash Dean/Photo Editor)

Spring is officially here. The sun was out, base path drawn and softballs flying at Vic Raschi Field in Geneseo on Sunday April 2, as the Knights hosted the SUNY Brockport Golden Eagles, coming out victorious.  

In the doubleheader, the Knights were finally able to play their first home game after multiple events were postponed due to inclement weather. Since conditions aren’t favorable for softball until mid-April in this area, many teams including Geneseo are forced to play doubleheaders to make up for the lack of games. 

Not being able to practice on an actual field certainly has its disadvantages, but senior infielder Abby Dennett said that the team has been able to cope with the situation. 

“We practice six out of seven days in a week, with an off day on Sunday. We start our formal practices in mid-January each year and we are typically found practicing inside the gym on campus for the first month or two,” Dennett said in an email interview.  

When it comes to softball, the qualities of strength, agility and accuracy are important for success—and all three of those things do not require a field.

Another disadvantage the Knights have seemed to overcome was the loss of several upperclassmen. As a matter of fact, there are only seven returning juniors and seniors, leaving Geneseo with a very young team. 

The age difference can sometimes be an issue with teams, but the women have managed to find a special balance and chemistry. 

“At this point in the season, our team chemistry feels really special,” Dennett said. “We all love coming to practice each day to work together and a lot of nights we hang out with each other outside of practice and games.”     

With all those struggles averted, the Knights moved into conference play against the Golden Eagles and came out successful. In game one of two, sophomore pitcher Taylor Moore pitched a shutout, giving up only three hits to the Brockport offense. Sophomore outfielder Danni Napoli hit a solo homerun and senior outfielder Alyssa Presutti knocked in a RBI in Geneseo’s 2-0 victory over Brockport. 

Game two of the doubleheader was a little more intense for Geneseo fans, however, as the Knights trailed by two going into the fifth. With only three innings left to make a move, the Knights tied the ballgame on Napoli’s sacrifice RBI and a sophomore catcher Anna Merante homerun in the fifth. 

Geneseo was able to keep the game tied into the seventh. Freshman outfielder Abbey Whitney was called to pinch hit in the bottom of the seventh and became the hero of the night, singling in Napoli for a Knights walk-off win.

The women added another two victories to their record after defeating Nazareth College in a doubleheader on Wednesday April 5.

Despite having a few obstacles during pre-season, the women have begun to come together and prove that Geneseo has a strong softball program, too. Dennett summed up their dynamic perfectly by stating, “Combining the younger player’s drive and eagerness with the older player’s experience and wisdom has made a really special dynamic on our team.”

Softball begins a hopeful 2017 season

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The Geneseo softball team escaped the brutal New York weather and enjoyed some time in Florida, where they played multiple games against teams from around the country. The women saw success as they left with a record of 7-3. (Annalee Bainnson/Assoc. Photo Editor)

While New York State residents dealt with the blistering winds, frigid temperatures and enormous snow fall, the Geneseo softball team kicked off their season with warm weather in Florida. 

The softball team strives to have another above 500 season. Geneseo finished with a 25-17 record and recorded a .309 team batting average in the spring of 2016. Additionally, the Knights went deep into the playoffs, eventually losing to the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons, who went on to win the entire tournament. 

For the fifth consecutive season, head coach David Sylvester will be at the reigns, who also serves as the principal at York Central School District’s middle and high school. The team has shown improvement under Sylvester, where in 2015 he led the women to a 28-12 season—the most wins the organization had achieved since the 2004 season. Although last season was successful, yes, the women look to do even more this year. 

Of the Knights returning this season, one key player to their team is sophomore infielder/outfielder Danni Napoli, who was the only Geneseo player to represent the school on the 2016 SUNYAC Softball All-Conference First Team. Napoli batted .436 with 22 runs batted for the 2015-16 season and is already off to a hot start, exiting the team’s games in Florida with a .348 batting average. 

The Knights will also be welcoming back seniors outfielder Alyssa Presutti, senior infielder Abby Dennett, catcher Taylor Knowles and pitcher/infielder Alexis Kidder. Additionally, the Knights had a very strong recruitment class, as they picked up nine new players. 

So how did Geneseo do in Florida? Considering their matchups, they performed pretty well. The team went 7-3, putting up some impressive numbers in a few games. Geneseo faced the United States Coast Guard Academy to kick off the season and only gave up one run—all the while tacking on seven. Sophomore outfielder Alyssa Persich and sophomore third baseman Anna Merante both went three for four, while pitcher Taylor Moore pitched to the tune of a one-run shutout. 

Moore had an even more impressive start on March 12 against the Lancaster Bible College Chargers; Moore gave up only one hit to the Chargers, and the Knights went on to win the game 5-0. 

Although the Knights had some great feats in Florida, they also had their share of poor performances. Geneseo struggled against the Susquehana University River Hawks twice, but kept the score close in their first game, as they only lost by a 5-3 score. 

Their second matchup with Susquehana, however, was a complete blowout. The Knights desperately tried to switch up their lineup in an attempt to get at least one run on the board, but their efforts failed in the end. Only managing three hits, Geneseo fell 11-0 in their second meeting against the River Hawks.

With the Florida games behind them, the Knights look ahead to colder temperatures and conference play. Geneseo will host the 9-3 University of Rochester Yellowjackets in a doubleheader on Saturday March 25. Although the Knights are not in the same division as Rochester, the matchup is sure to be a good one. 

Game one begins at 3 p.m. and game two will start at 5 p.m.

Softball wins four straight after slow start in Florida

The Knights have earned some much-needed wins since returning to play in New York State. Geneseo split a doubleheader on Thursday April 2 against SUNY Cortland and continued to control its home turf as the Knights swept SUNY Oswego on Friday April 3 and Keuka College on Tuesday April 7. With these victories, the Knights have pushed themselves back to a .500 record in SUNYAC play—they’re 3-3 in the conference and 8-9 overall. Geneseo is fortunate enough to have a diverse mix of players with a relatively even balance between all class years. While the transition from high school to college athletics may take some getting used to, it is necessary to adjust mentally and physically to have the highest chance of success throughout the season. This holds especially true for players that are not used to playing two games a day.

Senior pitcher/infielder Katie Muller—a mathematics major from Manlius, New York—and senior catcher Ashley Fillmore—a psychology major from Getzville, New York—both said they were able to put more wins on the board after returning from Florida. “I think as a team we were able to come together more,” Muller said. “We were more in-sync and used to being outside—because Florida was our first time being outside on the field this season.”

Fillmore agreed, noting how their games in New York are paramount to the team’s success. “There is a bigger motivation to play SUNYAC teams than the teams out of conference,” Fillmore said. “I think we took [the conference games] a little more seriously.”

Both athletes were playing softball long before coming to Geneseo, but they haven’t always played double-headers so consistently. “I like it better this way,” Muller said. “No matter what, we are going to have to play every team twice. If we didn’t do it this way, we would be playing almost every day—with school, that would be impossible.”

Fillmore agreed that having the doubleheader system is best for the team, but it undoubtedly takes a toll on her mind and body. “It is definitely hard to stay mentally focused through both games,” she said. “If we win the first game, it can be harder to win the second game and keep yourself focused throughout the whole thing.”

The Knights are lucky to have formed such strong relationships with their fellow teammates, as well as with head coach David Sylvester in his third year coaching the team. Sylvester takes into account the high amounts of physical and mental vigor associated with daily practice and the doubleheaders on game days.

With many of the players able to play more than one position, Sylvester is able to substitute someone in when another player might need a break. Muller said that doubleheaders also benefit the team socially. “Everybody on the team is very close,” she said.

The Knights’ home doubleheader that was scheduled for Wednesday April 8 against Nazareth College was postponed due to inclement weather. They will face SUNY Brockport at home on Friday April 10 at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.