Season Outlook
As the Fords enter the 2009 season, head coach Jennifer Ward believes that all the ingredients are there for her team to make a run at the top spot in the Centennial Conference and the NCAA Tournament.
Most important for Ward and the fortunes of the Fords this spring will be the blending of upper class experience with the youth and talent of returning sophomores and incoming freshmen.
The Haverford outfield is loaded with experience and proven talent in two of the three positions. Last season’s leading hitter, junior Cassandra Searls, will run out to her familiar post in center field and will be flanked by senior Dana Irshay in left field. Searls is a two-time All-Centennial honoree and Irshay, third on the team in hitting last year, is a three-time all-conference selection.
A pair of returners and at least one newcomer will vie for playing time in right field. Sophomores Beth Davis and Alison Crawford lend experience to the mix while freshman Hilary Bragg figures to give Ward another option in the final outfield spot.
The Scarlet and Black infield will be in a similar situation as Ward will fill in her line-up card with a blend of familiar faces as well as promising newcomers.
Three-time all-conference performer Natalie Richman is expected to return to first base for the Fords bringing a wealth of experience into her final season with the program. Conversely, a pair of freshmen will don the mask and likely share time behind the plate at the catcher’s position as Ward will put a veteran pitching staff into the hands of Erin Delaney and Laura Iwanyk this season.
Sophomore Candice Smith will return as the team’s starting shortstop in 2009. Sophomores Marina Zambrotta and Maggie Cronin, and freshman Laina Gagliardi are all expected to compete for starting time in the remaining infield spots.
Cronin, the starting goalkeeper for the Haverford field hockey team last fall, is a talented but not yet tested commodity at third and her playing time at the hot-corner might affect the other two infield spots.
Haverford will look to senior Becky Garibotto, a two-time all-league performer who owns program records for wins, strikeouts, and career shutouts, and currently owns the all-time lowest earned-run average in team history, to lead this year’s pitching staff.
A quartet of returners to the Haverford roster will round out the pitching staff.
Searls registered the second-most innings in the circle last season, and sophomore Lisa Karmel was next but her 43 strikeouts were bested only by Garibotto.
Cronin earned the call late in the season with a few innings and her continued progress could allow for an even greater figure this year, and the return of senior Samantha Fontenell from injury will also play into Ward’s choices for a rotation and in relief help to present to opposing teams.
At the plate, Ward’s offensive plan is to use her well-rounded line-up as the situation dictates.
The Fords can feast on the well-timed big hit just as well as situational hitting, and team speed—especially from the infusion of some quick sets of legs from the newcomers—will always be on opposing team’s minds.
Haverford expects to be competitive in 2009, in the sense that Ward believes her team will at least be in a position to win each game they play.
In 2006 the Fords won the Centennial championship game which propelled the team into their first-ever NCAA tournament. This season the squad looks to return to the conference championship battle after falling one game short of the league final last season.
For Ward and her Fords to reach such lofty heights, the blending of old and new, of experienced and unproven, will need to happen quickly through the non-conference start to their spring schedule. The ‘known’ elements are in place; the youth on the roster has to step up if Haverford is to make a run in 2009 at their second NCAA bid.