The NESCAC West division has hardly set the standard for softball parity since its inception in 2001. Williams has captured the division title every season, while Amherst and Middlebury have each posted three second-place finishes in their histories.
Meanwhile, heading into this season, neither Wesleyan nor Hamilton had ever mounted a challenge for one of the top two spots in the West. The Cardinals, for instance, had never finished with more than two divisional wins in a season and had not posted a winning year since 1995. Last season was no exception, as Wesleyan finished in last place in the NESCAC West with a 1-7 mark against its divisional rivals.
But this year, for the first time in their program's history, the Cardinals are posing a serious threat to what has otherwise been an established hierarchy in the West. Behind the strength of a stunning win over Williams March 30, followed by a remarkable three-game sweep against Amherst over the weekend, Wesleyan boasts a 4-2 divisional record that places it in first place in the NESCAC West and on track to make its first-ever appearance in the conference tournament.
Perhaps the only ones not surprised by the quick turnaround are the Cardinals themselves, who came into the 2007 season expecting a fresh start and new opportunities.
"We really just think about this as a new team and a new year," Wesleyan coach Jen Shea said. "While we haven't had a lot of success in the past, I think this year we have higher expectations. We're just looking at it one game at a time."
But this season wasn't always so bright, as Wesleyan went 6-8 on its season-opening spring trip to California from March 14-22, where it committed 37 errors and yielded 32 unearned runs in just 14 games.
So it should come as no surprise that Wesleyan's recent success has coincided with an improvement on the defensive end. The Cardinals made just one error in their victory over the Ephs and just three miscues during three games against the Lord Jeffs, a substantial step up for a squad that committed an average of 2.6 errors per game in California.
"We only had one practice outside in California before we started playing games, so we didn't have a lot of time to work on [defense]," Shea said. "Having games and practice outside, that's helped. I think my players getting comfortable with one another out on the field and just seeing more balls in the dirt have made our defense get better over the past few weeks."
It's pitching has also propelled the team this season, in which three players - junior Karla Hargrave, freshman Meaghan Dendy and senior tri-captain Molly Gaebe - were ranked in the top 10 in the NESCAC in strikeouts. Each of the three boasted an ERA under four heading into yesterday's game against Elms.
Dendy and Gaebe, the latter of whom was Wesleyan's only All-NESCAC pick last year, are also among the team's offensive leaders, joining junior corner infielder Marcia Whitehead as the Cardinals' only above-.300 hitters. Generally speaking, however, offense isn't Wesleyan's forte. Shutout five times this season, the Cardinals rank in the league's bottom three in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Shea, however, believes the offense is rounding into form at the right time.
"As of late, our hitting has come along," Shea said. "In our games against Williams, we out-hit them every game. We got a lot of hits this weekend against Amherst. I think it's the whole package right now. We do have a great pitching staff, our defense is coming along, and I think our bats have really started to come alive. I think that's why we've been successful on the field lately."
Indeed it's difficult to find much wrong with Wesleyan's recent efforts, especially considering how far the Cardinals have come. Prior to the team's victory over Williams on March 30, the Cardinals were 1-42 all-time against the Ephs, with the lone win coming in 1992. The April 6-7 sweep of Amherst was equally historic, as Wesleyan entered the series having beaten the Lord Jeffs just once since 1996.
The Cardinals' achievements are indicative of a trend throughout the conference that has seen the gap between traditional powers and historical underdogs close.
"I've thought the conference has been wide open for six years now," Tufts coach Cheryl Milligan said in an interview last week. "It's really anybody's game now."
