8E - New Student Edition - The Michigan Daly - Wednesday, September 6, 2000
There's always next year for solid softball
SOFTBALL
Contisued from Page 6E
Barda's miniscule 0.79 ERA and 17
wins led the team as well.
But when veteran leadership was
not enough to get the team to the
level that is expected of Michigan
softball programs, the rookies helped
bring them back.
Freshmen, such as pitcher Marissa
Young and outfielder Melinda
Moulden, contributed throughout the
season, with Young practically lifting
the team to the Big Ten Tournament
championship on her shoulders.
Another third team All-American,
Young pitched two consecutive com-
plete game shutouts on the final day
of the tournament to help the
Wolverines beat their greatest neme-
sis -- the Hawkeyes.
"These kids really came together
the last few weeks," Young said.
"They played their hearts out."
As for the rest of the players, the
season provided opportunities to gel
their respective games, with notice-
able improvement throughout the
team.
Rebecca Tune, renowned as one of
the team's most impressive defensive
players, making the hardest plays at
shortstop seem routine, found a way
to develop an offensive presence.
While she finished the season with
a meager .212 batting average, in the
final few games, she performed well
above expectations, being moved up
to the fifth spot in the lineup in the
waning days of the postseason..
She sees more improvement on the
horizon for next season.
"Before this season, I knew that I
was going to improve," she said. "As
long as I can keep that frame of mind
next year, I think that I can improve
more and have a great season."
Also, Melissa Taylor continued
her brilliance at the plate and in the
field, finding ways to consistently
bunt her way on base, or when the
fielders caught wind of her plan,
slap the ball over their heads for a
single.
But in the end, it was not enough.
The team could not conquer the
toughest of all challenges -- the
postseason.
Still, there is next year, and though
there will be new faces and some that
will no longer don the prestigious
maize and blue, preparations are
already beginning.
"It's really tough to leave this
group of girls," Gentile said. "They
have huge amounts of talent on this
team.
No matter where I am next year
and in the years to come, I'm going
to be rooting for them"
The thrill of victory
DePaul's 3-0 victory over Michigan
in the NCAA Regional
Championship game culminated an
amazing three days for the Blue
Demons, who were the final at-
large team selected for the NCAA
Tournament. Here is DePaul's road
to the championship:
Friday, May 19
No. 5 DePaul 8, No. 2 Michigan 0
(6 inn.)
DePaul 1, No. 3 Notre Dame 0
Saturday, May 20
DePaul 5, No. 6 Central Michigan 0
Sunday, May 21
DePaul 3, Michigan 0
MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daily
Sophomore Stefanie Volpe finished the season as the Wolverines' best hitter. Volpe
and freshman pitcher Marissa Young earned All-American honors for their efforts.
SUNDAY
SPECIAL
Stickers slam into NCAA finals
Wolverine Score-
You Sve!.
5% Off
for every touchdown
By David Roth
Daily Sports Writer
Contrary to popular belief, the hottest
hockey being played at Michigan hasn't
been on ice.
The Michigan field hockey team is
hinting that a Wolverines' dynasty
might be in the making. The Wolverines
didn't just go to their first NCAA tour-
nament last season - they rocked it,
fighting their way to the NCAA champi-
onship game before Maryland edged
them 2-1 on a goal scored with less than
one second left in the first half.
Excitement defines Michigan field
hockey. This excitement culminated in
the last ten games of Michigan's season.
In these ten games:
Nine were against top 15 oppo-
nents.
Eight were decided by one goal.
Two were decided by two goals
Games in both the Big Ten Tour-
nament and NCAA Tournament went
into double overtime.
Somehow the Wolverines managed
to muster a seven game winning streak
before their loss in the title game.
It took some players longer than oth-
ers to realize their accomplishments.
"We're going to the Final Four," said
Jocelyn LaFace, a day before she board-
ed a plane to Boston. "It's finally hitting
me. Holy crap.
The Michigan field hockey program
is now ready to take the next step and
become the first women's team to earn
the national championship. Last year's
four outgoing seniors came in their
freshmen year notching an ugly 7-1 I
record, but left the Wolverines with a
20-7 record.
With nine freshmen entering the
upcoming season, coach Marcia
Pankratz expects the freshman to leave
Up to
C
S
N. U
2
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on all University of Michigan items
on all U of M Insignia Clothing & Gifts
Home 4
orner of Hours:
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the program better than they found it
and that means nothing less than a title.
"We have nine freshman coming in
and all of them are first-class players,
Pankratz said. "I think the expectations
are greater.
They certainly are. Pankratz called
her recruiting class one of the best, if
not the best. in the nation. All this
comes in addition to last season's fresh-
men, who were enormous contributors.
Jessica Rose scored Michigan's lone
goal in the championship game, and
Molly Powers' crunch-time goal in the
semi-final lifted Michigan 4-3 over pre-
viously undefeated Connecticut.
"The freshmen that are now sopho-
mores only know going to the final
four," Pankratz said. "It's a great foun-
dation to continue to build on for the
program in future years.
If you have any time to make your
way to Ocker Field, November 3-5 is itI*
when the Wolverines will be hosting
the Big Ten Tournament.
"It's very exciting to host this year,"
Pankratz said. "All the teams are very
tightly matched so it's going to be very
exciting hockey to watch."
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