Lehigh Softball: Winning as a Team
5/10/2015 12:57:00 PM | Softball
Recap: Lehigh blanks Bucknell 8-0 to claim 13th Patriot League softball title
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By: Justin Lafleur, Lehigh Sports Media Relations
The Lehigh softball program is used to winning. Entering this season, the Mountain Hawks had won 12 Patriot League Championships, by far the most of any league program.
Each championship team has been special in its own way. For Lehigh softball, 2015 has truly been the year of the team.
"Julie Ammary (who handles Lehigh Athletics Leadership Education) is one of the better team-builders out there," said Fran Troyan, head coach for Lehigh's last ten championship seasons (and assistant to his wife Sue for Lehigh's first three). "She worked with our team this year. We had four early-morning sessions on Fridays where we really set out to decide what we were going to be all about. We got a mantra that we're going to be hungry all the time."
Hungry the Mountain Hawks were. With their dominant 8-0 win over Bucknell Saturday, Lehigh improved to 39-7 overall. The .848 winning percentage is currently tops in school history. The only other time Lehigh sported a final win percentage above .800 was in 2005 when the Mountain Hawks finished 41-10. Even in 2006, when Lehigh defeated Texas A&M twice to advance to the Amherst Regional Finals, Lehigh was 43-14 (.754 winning percentage). Ammary (formerly Julie Sterrett '07) was a key member of both those teams.
The present-day Mountain Hawks entered Saturday seventh in the nation in winning percentage. How does a team lose just seven times in 46 games? There must be talent, but there's also exceptional team chemistry. From top to bottom, this is truly a team with everyone contributing.
"These girls, one through 18, love each other," said Troyan. "They would do anything for each other and they've forged a special bond this year."
"We're all so close," said junior All-League outfielder MacKenzie Velasquez. "Coach always makes a point to tell us that unity is the best form of a team. Since game one, we always expected to play as one, win as one and lose as one."
Velasquez is the perfect example of playing as one. An All-Patriot League outfielder, she could have been upset to be slotted as the team's number nine hitter. Instead, she embraced the role and created an exceptionally deep Mountain Hawks' lineup. The depth on this team was on display in the Patriot League Tournament this weekend.
In game one against Army West Point, senior Emily Bausher pitched a shutout and broke a scoreless tie with an RBI single. Classmate Cassie Waggy followed with a clutch hit to plate two big insurance runs. In the second game vs. Bucknell Saturday, junior Alexis Watanabe hit a two-run double to give Lehigh a 2-0 lead. Leading 4-0, the Bison came back to tie the score, but junior Jessica Calvini came up with a clutch, walk-off single, for the 5-4 victory.
Then on Saturday, Lehigh tacked on single runs in the early going before putting up a four-spot in the sixth inning for the 8-0 victory. Eight of nine starters tallied at least one hit, including four Mountain Hawks with multiple hits. Freshman Nicole Yozzo drove in the game's first run and finished 3-for-3 on the day.
Coming up with clutch hits is easier when you have a family environment.
"Being a family is a really special thing," said Yozzo. "I haven't been on very many teams that I've just loved immediately. I wouldn't want to play with any other group of girls.
"It's back to basics (in the pressure situations)," she continued. "Everyone's been in the spot with two strikes and two outs. You remember the feeling from before and hopefully execute."
Saturday was the reward following endless amounts of hard work. The Mountain Hawks had fallen in the last two Patriot League Tournaments, despite hosting, and were determined to make sure that didn't happen again.
"The team collectively decided that they weren't going to be denied and they weren't going to let any obstacles get in their way," said Troyan. "Boy did we have obstacles early in the year, including the weather."
The weather forced Lehigh's first tournament of the season to be cancelled and weather played a role in the following weeks as well.
"When it looked like our second tournament of the year was going to be rained out, the athletic department stepped up for us and helped us out, allowing us to do a last-minute trip to Florida which was a springboard for our season," said Troyan.
On spring break, the Mountain Hawks finished 10-2, only losing to Creighton and USF. South Florida features a strong softball program that is a mainstay in the NCAA Tournament. Lehigh was neck-and-neck with the Bulls, falling 4-2 while dropping a 4-0 final to Creighton.
Lehigh has shown it can compete against the nation's best, also dropping a pair of tight game to regional power Hofstra in April. Standing as Patriot League Champions on May 9, the Mountain Hawks are far from satisfied just making the NCAA Tournament. They have every expectation of winning and continuing their magical season as long as possible.
"I think we have as great a chance as ever to get out of the regional tournament (and advance to Super Regionals)," said Waggy. "We've played some really tough teams, last year and this year, and we've competed. We could have won some of those games, but some things didn't go our way."
Win or lose, the Mountain Hawks will do it as a team. That team goes beyond simply the players on the field.
"There are so many people behind the scenes, whether it's Julie (Ammary), our athletic director Joe Sterrett approving that travel expenditure, Eric Markovcy and his strength and conditioning staff working with our players, or the Sports Information staff, this championship was really a collective effort. Sports Medicine did a great job for us this year as well," said Troyan. "I'm watching the end of (Saturday's championship) game and the parking attendant comes up and is as excited as can be. Everybody has bought into this team. It's a very, very special team. There aren't very many teams who ever think about going 39-7."
Lehigh went 3-0 in the league tournament in the midst of final exams, something the Mountain Hawks haven't had to face. Lehigh's academic calendar changed this year, which placed finals in the middle of the tournament.
"For us to be able to do this during finals period, there's another example of someone from the outside really helping us out. (Director of Student-Athlete Academic Services) Katie Guynn helped us get organized with all of our finals," said Troyan. "We had to move a bunch of finals early and we have finals that are coming up. We don't even know when we'll be able to practice because we still have kids in finals the rest of the way. It goes to show you that if you have enough talent and you have enough direction, great things can happen."
Whether it's a workout in February or studying for final exams in May, because of the team's continuous commitment from top to bottom, the Mountain Hawks are Patriot League Champions and have aspirations for more.
"Wherever we end up, we're going to play with the same mentality expecting to win," said Velasquez. "This whole season, we go onto the field expecting to win and we give it our all. We played amazing teams throughout the year. I think we have a chance of competing against anyone we're paired up with."
In the end, this season has brought countless life-learning opportunities, and isn't that what college is all about?
"Every day, we looked to be our best," Troyan said. "Whether it was at practice, in the classroom or interacting with parents, everyone was looking to be the best they could be on a daily basis. Our players have developed great habits which will carry with them for the rest of their lives."
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