Lehigh University Athletics
Fall season underway for defending PL Champs
9/10/2009 12:30:00 PM | Softball
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The college softball season officially begins in February, but that has not stopped the Lehigh softball team from working hard in preparation of the 2010 campaign. The Mountain Hawks, winners of 11 straight Patriot League regular season titles and five of the last six tournament crowns, are in the second week of fall workouts and will play their first fall scrimmage games this weekend.
“Every fall we’re trying to assess what we have to work with,” said Lehigh head coach Fran Troyan. “It’s an opportunity for us to really see how the freshmen are going to be for us and to assess the progress made by our returning players.”
Last season, Lehigh posted a 38-18-1 record and advanced to the finals of the NCAA Gainesville (Fla.) regional, before being ousted by eventual national runner-up Florida. The Mountain Hawks return 12 players from last year’s squad, including a trio of seniors: pitcher Tiffany Curtis and catchers Lauren Eichblatt and Brooke Lewis, plus four additional All-League players; but Lehigh also graduated a very important and successful five-player senior class, led by four-time Patriot League Pitcher of the Year Lisa Sweeney.
The bad news for Lehigh is that Sweeney can no longer help the Mountain Hawks at the plate or in the pitcher’s circle, but the good news is she will be able to help out as a volunteer coach this season.
“Lisa will be able to assist our program while working around her student teaching,” explained Troyan. “Any time we can have a player like Lisa, or a player like (Administrative Assistant) Kate Marvel around the kids in our program, it is a tremendous benefit to just that. We’re happy to have Lisa able to help out when she can.”
The Mountain Hawks have been working out four days a week for the last two weeks with the main focus of just getting better every day. Lehigh will also test itself in game situations with fall scrimmages slated for each of the next three weekends. Lehigh will host Kutztown for a doubleheader on Saturday, then welcome Rutgers for a doubleheader on Sunday, September 20. The Mountain Hawks will close out the fall season with games against Kutztown, East Stroudsburg and Seton Hall at the Carole Weil Tournament in Allentown on September 27.
“The daily plan for us is to try to improve our skills a little bit every day,” said Troyan. “From what I’ve seen we have a lot of work ahead of us, but this group is one that is ready, willing and able to work.
Troyan concluded, “We’ll use the fall to evaluate where we are without overdoing it. At the end of the fall the goal is to be able to put individual development plans together for all players. Any areas we need to focus on we’ll be able to do that during the off season.”
