It's How You Finish

The 2011 Newbury College softball team peaked at the right time, rattling off seven straight victories at the end of the regular season to earn the fifth seed in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Tournament with a 9-7 conference record. Under first year Head Coach Brook Capello, their end of the season run was the second longest winning streak of the 2010-2011 academic year behind men’s volleyball’s two eight game streaks.

Their late season renaissance culminated in five players earning All-Conference honors – tying Elms College for the second most players behind eventual NECC Champion Lesley University. Freshman Joanna Robie was the second Nighthawk in as many seasons to be named to the All-NECC first team as a first baseman.

In addition to her pitching duties in the circle, Robie was the power bat in the heart of the order with an OPS above 1.000 (1.029) while driving in 26 baserunners. A feared hitter against conference pitchers with a .491 average, there was virtually no way to get the Andover native out in the midst of their winning streak. Robie was locked in batting an impressive .654 with two doubles, two triples, a homerun and 14 RBIs.

She was not alone. She had protection from her fellow pitcher, sophomore starter Rebecca Roach. Primarily hitting behind Robie in the line-up, she re-grouped after a slow start to finish the season above .300 and second on the team in homeruns. On the rubber Roach was a work-horse, pitching 133 innings in 28 games. Under first year assistant coach, Alicia Burnett’s guidence , Roach set a new Newbury season-high records with 152 strikeouts and sits atop the record books with 198 career strikeouts.

Roach’s strong performance on the rubber this season helped the Nighthawks to their first NECC semifinals appearance with a first round upset over Becker College. The Nighthawks avenged for a double-header loss at home against the Hawks earlier in the season, defeating the Hawks 4-1 in the quarterfinals. Becker hitters could not touch the Charlton, Mass. native in a complete game two-hitter. She fanned nine Hawks and helped her own cause going two-for-four while scoring two runs.

Although Newbury lost in the semifinals to Lesley and Mitchell, Roach was named to the NECC All-Tournament Team compiling a five-to-one strikeout-to-walk ratio. Junior middle infielder Teressa Farioli joined Roach on the All-Tournament Team, leading the Nighthawks at the plate in the conference championship.

There is a saying in baseball and softball that “hitting is contagious.” Once one player gets it going with the bat, her teammates are going to follow suit. Robie and the Nighthawks tormented opposing conference pitchers, hitting .317 as a team with seven homeruns and 80 RBIS.  

Farioli was one of six players from the squad to increase their production at the plate from 2010 to 2011. The western Massachusetts native brought power and average to the lower part of the Nighthawk order, slugging .395 while maintaining a batting average over .300 from the sixth and seventh spots of the line-up. Along with double-play partner, shortstop Theresa Hylinski, Farioli was acknowledged  by the NECC earning All-Conference Honorable Mention.

In the field, Hylinski made the switch from outfield to middle infield with relative ease. At the plate, the speedster set the table and wreaked havoc on the base paths safely swiping five of seven bags. Against Daniel Webster, Wheelock, Southern Vermont and Bay Path, Hylinski raised her average against NECC pitchers to .339, batting .345 with a .387 on-base percentage in their last seven games.

Sophomore Brittany Stracher was one of two players selected to the All-NECC Second Team. Spending the majority the season anchoring the Newbury outfield in center, she accounted for a slow start with an outburst of power in the last week of the season. Stracher launched three of her team-leading four homeruns against the Eagles, Mountaineers and Wildcats as she slugged an impressive .852. Joining her on the second team was outfield-mate, left fielder Samantha Rios, with a .340 average and .411 on-base percentage against NECC pitchers.

Nighthawk softball proved that it is not how you start but how you finish. Losing no one to graduation, the outlook for 2012 looks bright with everyone gaining a valuable year of experience.