Margaret BauerWinning isn’t anything new to the Washington University softball team. Coming off of a very impressive 33-5 record last year, the team looks to improve this season.
So far the team has won the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships and went 17-1 before losing to number-eight Augustana College by one run.
Head Coach Cindy Zelinsky is very optimistic about the remainder of the season.
“We have to take one game at a time,” said Zelinsky. “We can’t get ahead of ourselves.”
Over Spring Break the team traveled to Orlando, Fla., where they were at a perfect 6-0 record and outscored opposing teams 51-6 before traveling to Altamonte Springs, Fla., for the UAA Championships. They came out with a perfect 8-0 and outscored opposing teams 65-2.
Captain and senior Victoria “Tori” Ramsey has pitched a 6-0 record and only given up one earned run.
“Obviously, the ultimate goal is to win nationals,” said Ramsey. “We have to play ‘Bear’ softball every game to achieve our goals.”
“Bear” softball is an element that Coach Zelinsky preaches in every practice and game. The concept is to play every game like it were a championship game. This season 90 percent of the team’s games are regional games that determine who gets a national bid-so every one counts.
Senior cocaptain Jackie Burgdorf has started in every game that she’s played in and carries a .400 slugging percentage.
“One of our goals and one of our biggest challenges for the rest of the season is to keep getting better every day, no matter how many wins we have or how many runs we’re winning by,” said Burgdorf. “We haven’t played as well as we can yet. We’re still working toward playing the kind of ball that’s going to win us a national championship.”
The Bears are a threat to opponents because of their powerful 7-8-9 batters who are all batting around .300, giving any part of the lineup the potential to score runs.
“We’re dangerous one through nine and have a very deep bench,” said Zelinsky. “Our pitching is the same way, and we have four very good pitchers.”
Leading the way offensively is junior Monica Hanono, senior Liz Swary and freshman Amy Vukovich, who have played in all 18 games and are batting well over .400. Pitching is very deep, and Zelinsky has four solid pitchers to choose from. Ramsey, freshman Kaylyn Eash and sophomores Abby Morgan and Laurel Sagartz have combined for a stunning 17-1 record and only eight earned runs in 18 games.
“Our team is very fundamentally sound, our field percentage is around .970 and we are very powerful offensively,” said Zelinsky. “I hope students come out and support their extremely skilled classmates.”