Lehigh University Athletics
Mountain Hawks working hard, making progress towards next weekend's season opener
2/12/2015 12:26:00 PM | Softball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh softball team has been hard at work for nearly a month in preparation for the 2015 season. While most Division I programs opened up last weekend, the Mountain Hawks will have to wait until February 20 to open their season. The usual northeast winter weather has kept the Mountain Hawks indoors for almost all of its preparation, but head coach Fran Troyan says things are progressing well and that the players are rearing to get going next weekend in North Carolina.
"This is always a very hard time of the year because for the first couple of weeks everybody's excited to get started, and then the reality of being inside the entire time sets in," said Troyan, who is in his 20th season. "We're trying to make practices upbeat, interesting and fun and the players have been doing a great job with it. We're at a point right now where, just like any other coach in any other sport, we're ready to see what we can do against a team that's wearing a different color than brown and white."
The Mountain Hawks are coming off a 30-20 campaign in 2014 that featured the program's third consecutive Patriot League regular season title. After failing to win the Patriot League Tournament as hosts in each of the last two seasons, Lehigh is working hard to try and end the 2015 season with a 13th tournament title and eighth NCAA Regional appearance in the last 12 years.(2/12/2015) 2015 Softball Preseason Practice
Lehigh was recently picked in a tie for second in the Patriot League preseason poll with senior Emily Bausher earning Preseason Pitcher of the Year honors and junior Morgan Decker being named Preseason Player of the Year. Bausher and Decker will serve as captains for the Mountain Hawks, along with senior catcher Brandi Hawkins.
"All three of the captains have done great jobs building relationships with the other players in the program," Troyan said. "I don't know that they've had to say a whole lot. They've just been leading by example. We've been doing some team building stuff outside of practice time and their leadership in that area as well as the leadership of the senior class has been fantastic."
Troyan says that the Mountain Hawks have achieved a number of their preseason objectives and have made the most of the weather situation as they ready for the upcoming campaign.
"We needed to make sure that we're fit, going into a long season," Troyan said. "Make sure we're as healthy as we can be. We spend the preseason working on as many fundamentals as we can so that we get good reps going in and try to get the pitching up to speed. Get some live hitting in and get as much defense as we can. We've done the best we can given the conditions.
Lehigh's roster has been bolstered with the addition of six freshmen, all of who hail from California and had to adjust to having most of their preseason practices indoors.
"The first couple of weeks things went slowly for them, but they're adjusting to it now just like all our other Californians have adjusted to it in the past," Troyan said. "They're doing a great job. We've modified things so that we're trying to do things that replicate the speed and pace of play outside as much as we can. They've all done a great job adjusting to it."
With the start of Lehigh's season inching closer, the Mountain Hawks have another week to prepare, but Lehigh is certainly looking forward to taking the next step and getting started in earnest with a regular season schedule that begins next weekend at the Tar Heel Invitational in Chapel Hill, N.C. and then continues with tournaments in Virginia and Florida.
"At some point you have to move forward and play games," Troyan said. "We're pretty much ready to do that at this point in time. By the time next weekend comes around we hope we have pretty good weather down there."
Lehigh will play four games over two days at the Tar Heel Invitational, beginning with games Friday February 20 against Fairleigh Dickinson (1 p.m.) and Radford (3 p.m.). The following day, Lehigh will face Campbell before wrapping up tournament play against host North Carolina.
"This is always a very hard time of the year because for the first couple of weeks everybody's excited to get started, and then the reality of being inside the entire time sets in," said Troyan, who is in his 20th season. "We're trying to make practices upbeat, interesting and fun and the players have been doing a great job with it. We're at a point right now where, just like any other coach in any other sport, we're ready to see what we can do against a team that's wearing a different color than brown and white."
The Mountain Hawks are coming off a 30-20 campaign in 2014 that featured the program's third consecutive Patriot League regular season title. After failing to win the Patriot League Tournament as hosts in each of the last two seasons, Lehigh is working hard to try and end the 2015 season with a 13th tournament title and eighth NCAA Regional appearance in the last 12 years.
Lehigh was recently picked in a tie for second in the Patriot League preseason poll with senior Emily Bausher earning Preseason Pitcher of the Year honors and junior Morgan Decker being named Preseason Player of the Year. Bausher and Decker will serve as captains for the Mountain Hawks, along with senior catcher Brandi Hawkins.
"All three of the captains have done great jobs building relationships with the other players in the program," Troyan said. "I don't know that they've had to say a whole lot. They've just been leading by example. We've been doing some team building stuff outside of practice time and their leadership in that area as well as the leadership of the senior class has been fantastic."
Troyan says that the Mountain Hawks have achieved a number of their preseason objectives and have made the most of the weather situation as they ready for the upcoming campaign.
"We needed to make sure that we're fit, going into a long season," Troyan said. "Make sure we're as healthy as we can be. We spend the preseason working on as many fundamentals as we can so that we get good reps going in and try to get the pitching up to speed. Get some live hitting in and get as much defense as we can. We've done the best we can given the conditions.
Lehigh's roster has been bolstered with the addition of six freshmen, all of who hail from California and had to adjust to having most of their preseason practices indoors.
"The first couple of weeks things went slowly for them, but they're adjusting to it now just like all our other Californians have adjusted to it in the past," Troyan said. "They're doing a great job. We've modified things so that we're trying to do things that replicate the speed and pace of play outside as much as we can. They've all done a great job adjusting to it."
With the start of Lehigh's season inching closer, the Mountain Hawks have another week to prepare, but Lehigh is certainly looking forward to taking the next step and getting started in earnest with a regular season schedule that begins next weekend at the Tar Heel Invitational in Chapel Hill, N.C. and then continues with tournaments in Virginia and Florida.
"At some point you have to move forward and play games," Troyan said. "We're pretty much ready to do that at this point in time. By the time next weekend comes around we hope we have pretty good weather down there."
Lehigh will play four games over two days at the Tar Heel Invitational, beginning with games Friday February 20 against Fairleigh Dickinson (1 p.m.) and Radford (3 p.m.). The following day, Lehigh will face Campbell before wrapping up tournament play against host North Carolina.
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