As the sun begins to peek out from behind the gray, wintry clouds, softball could not be more ready to take on the heat of the spring season. With their last NESCAC championship win in 2021 and two finals and one semifinal appearance since then, the team is eager to kick into high gear and prove their dominance in the conference. This spring break they took the opportunity to learn from their games, preparing to take on their NESCAC opponents in the coming weeks.
“This break is all about trying what works and what doesn’t work and learning from the mistakes and grow from them,” sophomore infielder Heaven Oliva wrote in an email to the Daily. “It was a test to see how our team does while facing one of the most difficult schedules in the country.”
In their second Classic of the season during their first weekend of spring break, the Jumbos took three total wins against Worcester Polytechnic Institute, The College of New Jersey and the hosting Salisbury University, while enduring a loss against Muhlenberg College. The Jumbos earned 18 runs over the four games, allowing seven runs to their opponents. Highlights included a grand slam from junior utility player Lauryn Horita and a two-run shot from Oliva, both in the game against Salisbury. In that same game, graduate student pitcher Sophia DiCocco pitched a one-hit shutout with four strikeouts.
Following the Classic, Tufts faced Randolph-Macon College in a doubleheader on Wednesday. The game went into extra innings, with both teams tied with one run. Junior utility player Kaitlyn Perucci led the team with two hits, including an RBI at the top of the eighth to put the Jumbos up by one. In the end it would not be enough, as the Yellow Jackets managed to score two in the bottom of the inning, taking a 3–2 victory.
Perucci stayed on fire in the second game with three hits. Sophomore outfielder Emma Wingate followed with two. Wingate and senior catcher Keriann Slayton each put the team up with an RBI in the fourth inning, but the Yellow Jackets found a groove in the bottom of the inning bringing in four runs. Despite Wingate’s second RBI from a single in the top of the sixth, the team could not find their way to another run, losing 4–3.
On Saturday, Tufts played Christopher Newport University, who had dominated the beginning of their season with a record of 18–1 prior to their game against Tufts. A three-run blast from Oliva in the third would not be enough for the Jumbos in the first game, finding an 8–3 loss, and a tough combined shutout 6–0 loss in the afternoon game.
Early losses do not mean much for the team, however, as they have many chances to work together throughout the season. Even within these losses against top teams, the Jumbos find an optimistic point of view, leaning on each other and lifting one another up. “I feel the team played as a unit,” graduate student infielder Bela Jiminez wrote to the Daily. “We were picking each other up, passing the bat, communicating with those on and off the field, and overall having fun. Softball isn’t an easy sport, but having a team you can rely on makes it much easier.”
With a 4–10 record on the season, the team looks to face NESCAC teams in the next 12 games, facing Bowdoin on Saturday and Amherst on Sunday. The Jumbos have dominated these teams with a 34–7 franchise record against Bowdoin and 10–3 against Amherst, finishing at the top of the NESCAC conference year after year. Records and statistics, however, do not mean as much to this team as much as their proficiency and camaraderie on and off the field. “One pitch at a time, a team goal of ours is to win a NESCAC championship,” Jiminez wrote. “We don’t care about our record or other NESCAC teams’ records for that matter. We are here to play our game the way we know we can — with confidence, intent, energy, and grit.”
Looking forward, the team has set its goals straight, honing in on specific facets of the game. One of those is consistency of energy no matter the score. “I think our team has done a great job of consistently having high energy within the dugout even when facing adversity,” Oliva wrote.
Another goal the Jumbos have is focusing on communication. “No matter what is happening, it is good to feel supported after making a good play or when making a mistake,” Oliva wrote. “We each have our own special celebrations after getting an out with our class, as well as one of our teammates. Being able to connect with the people playing with you on the field and the people in the dugout work towards our team goal of unity, playing as one.”
