In softball and baseball, statistics and record books are sacred.
Many fans of the games will often focus on home runs, arguably the most glamorous stat of them all. But as Major League Baseball shows, home-run records are far from untouchable. In fact, the old single-season record of 61 set by Roger Maris in 1961 has been shattered six times in the past 13 years.
Instead, it may be batting average records that are the most impressive. Unlike cumulative stats that allow room for slumps, one bad stretch of games can permanently ruin a batting average. That is perhaps the reason that no Major League hitter has hit over .400 since Ted Williams batted .406 in 1941.
But there is one record that is undoubtedly more challenging than hitting .400: hitting .500.
In 2011, junior first baseman Lena Cantone is looking to do just that.
Cantone, who after two games this weekend is hitting .482 (55-for-114) with just five games to go in the Jumbos' regular season, currently sits just .005 above Tufts' previous single-season mark, set just two years ago by Maya Ripecky (LA '09). While Cantone is quick to play down the significance of the accomplishment, there is no doubt that the numbers are representative of a special season.
"It feels good to be hitting the ball, and it feels good to be contributing to my team," Cantone said. "But I wouldn't say I'm up there with the great players at Tufts."
Cantone hails from Southington, Conn., where her smooth line-drive swing brought her attention throughout the region. Her skills earned her a spot on the Connecticut All-State teams for both 2007 and 2008, and the offers from schools poured in. Cantone chose Tufts, a recruiting boon for an already stacked side.
"Lena was a very well-known player in her area of the world when we were recruiting her," coach Cheryl Milligan said. "The question was ‘Can we get her,' because a lot of teams were interested in her. Since she got here, we've tried to continue to build on the ability she already had."
In her first collegiate season, she earned a spot in the starting lineup from day one on a team that would go to the College World Series that year. By the time the team made its historic run, she had solidified her place in the 7-hole, earned second-team NESCAC and All-American accolades, and was second on the team in RBIs. She hit .375 for the year.
After a "down year" — at least by her standards — in 2010 that still included another second-team all-conference award but only a .325 average, Cantone hit the gym with added vigor this past summer.
"I challenged myself a lot more to get a lot stronger in the offseason than I have in the last couple of years," Cantone said. "Not that I haven't always challenged myself, but I think more than any other year I came in to preseason stronger than I was."
The results have been undeniable. With some added power to her swing, she is finding outfield gaps left and right, leading the conference in doubles. She also seems to have added speed, legging out balls that she may not have been able to in the past.
A left-hander with speed, Cantone has the perfect build for an archetypical slap hitter. Early on, the idea was even suggested to her by a travel ball coach. But the concept never quite added up for Cantone.
"I always just figured if I could get a hit hitting the ball then why not do that," Cantone said. Instead of trying to beat out a throw in the infield, why not try to put it in a gap."
Instead, her decision to avoid relying on her speed to get infield hits may be one of her biggest assets. Opposing defenses that do not know her well may expect the slap and play her in, leaving gaping holes in the infield for her line drives to find. Teams that know her well will likely play her back, giving her the option to lay one down or chop into the infield dirt for a cheap hit. When it comes to defending Cantone, teams have to pick their poison.
"If I see the corners back I will occasionally drop down a bunt," Cantone said. "It's fun to mix up the corners. Sometimes early in the game they will play in and I won't slap, so the next time I come up they would play back and I'd lay down a bunt."
Cantone, and the rest of the heart of the lineup for that matter, also benefit from each other's presence in the lineup. Freshman catcher Jo Clair, sophomore second baseman Emily Beinecke and Cantone all hit over .400 and all have power in their swings. While teams were pitching around Clair earlier in the year, the continued production of all three guarantees that each will receive good pitches down the stretch.
"Jo was being walked a lot for a while because of the way she has been hitting home runs, and Lena is huge in keeping her protected," Milligan said. "I think they have been a real help to each other because you can't just walk all of them."
Perhaps the most important factor to her lofty average is her mental capacity for avoiding slumps. When batting around .500, a single two-or-three-game slump can cause an average to plummet. But Cantone has avoided the prospect of finding herself in situations like those with acute focus and positive thinking.
"I treat every at-bat as another chance to get a hit as opposed to looking at it like I'm afraid to get out," Cantone said. "No matter how good you are, even the best baseball players get into slumps. Even if I have an 0-for-3 game I try to stay positive, because it happens to everyone."
While the numbers are enough of an accomplishment by themselves, what makes Cantone's year even more impressive is the way she has stepped up into a leadership role this season as a co-captain. Never one to have a star-player ego, Cantone has instead consistently supported and helped to improve her younger teammates. On a team that includes just two seniors, that ability may be as impressive as her swing.
"She has been a fantastic leader," Milligan said. "She is the one that is always pointing out that that's how we do things around here and I think she has really come into her own as a vocal leader. The team really respects her a ton, and she has the trust and faith in all of them to say, ‘Hey, I know you can do that better.' That is one of the best things we can ask for out of a leader, and I think the younger players look up to her for it."
Whether Cantone wants to acknowledge it or not, she will go down in history as one of Tufts' great players. Her average record could hold up for many years; unless of course she breaks it again in her senior year. But her most important contribution may be that winning seems to follow her, and as the Jumbos enter this weekend's series against Trinity with a chance to win the NESCAC East, they could use some of that winning touch.
