ALISA OPPENHEIMER
Special to The Leader
The Fredonia softball team has been preparing year-round for its two biggest trips of the season, and the day has finally come.
The Blue Devils traveled to Salem, V.A., on Thursday, Feb. 27, to take on teams such as Roanoke, Pitt-Bradford and Susquehanna in the Mountain Mash Division III College Tournament.
Tony Ciccarello, head coach of the softball team, has prepared his team for tough competition this year.
“I expect my players to compete,” said Ciccarello.
Ciccarello has been coaching at Fredonia for seven years.
Last spring, the team came out with an overall record of 13-23 and a conference record of 8-10. This year, the team hopes the record will be better.
“We have a really tough schedule, probably the toughest schedule I’ve ever had at the college level,” he said.
As a result, Ciccarello has implemented a few changes in practices.
This includes the addition of new Assistant Coach Cassie Herman, as of fall 2019.
Before her start as a coach, Herman played four years under Ciccarello.
Her freshman year, she set a single-season team record for 121 assists at third base, and from then on, she was Fredonia’s starting third baseman.
“I’ve let [Herman] take over the infield, and I’m doing the outfield,” said Ciccarello. “And we’re focusing even more so on fundamentals.”
“One thing that will be different will be having [Herman] as coach rather than as a teammate, but considering her softball history, it’s a beneficial change for our team,” said junior Amber Piniewski.
For Piniewski, this will be her third year attending the team’s annual trips to Virginia and Florida.
“They’re one of the biggest highlights of the year and when we have the most fun,” she said.
Similar to her coach, Piniewski expects every player to put forth their greatest effort this season.
“My goals for the team are to compete with every team we play,” said Piniewski. “I’m expecting this season to go well; we have a lot of starters from last year returning and some talented freshmen.”
Samantha Seegar, a senior, is more than ready for her last big trips with her teammates.
“Going on these trips is definitely really exciting,” said Seegar. “I’m mostly looking forward to getting out on the field again and having fun with my team.
“I feel like there’s always such a high intensity during the first few games and I love it.”
Her goals for her team are pretty simple.
“I just want us to play the way we know how to play,” said Seegar.
This trip will be Seegar’s fourth consecutive year traveling with the team for the spring trips.
“I’m mostly expecting and hoping everyone will buy into the culture we’ve been building on this team,” said Seegar. “I know it’s really difficult being new on the team, but I expect everyone to be willing to put the team first.
“If we’re all contributing in some way and supporting each other, we could potentially be really great.”
Friday afternoon, Feb. 28, softball played Roanoke College as their first game of the season and
ultimately lost with a score of 7-1, Roanoke.
[RELATED: Fredonia sports update]
“They’re always a tough team, they’re in a tough conference,” said Ciccarello.
The following game the women faced Pitt-Bradford and came back with a 4-2 win.
On Saturday, Feb 29, the Blue Devils took on Pitt-Bradford for a second time, finishing in only six innings, defeating Pitt-Bradford 13-5.
And later they faced Susquehanna, where they finished the game with a losing score of 2-1.
“Based on history, Susquehanna is probably the toughest team we will face,” said Ciccarello
Considering the school’s record, this isn’t such a bad loss.
As for this week, the softball team will be back in Fredonia, attending classes and practicing again.
While other students will be heading home for spring break at the end of next week, the softball team will be catching a flight to play in THE Spring Games softball event in Clermont, Fla.
“We’re playing six NCAA teams in Florida,” said Ciccarello. “So half our games are against teams that won their conference and one went to the World Series, and a couple of others went to super regionals.”
The Blue Devils will play a total of 12 games in Florida and will start on Sunday, March 15, against The University of Scranton and later that day, Messiah College.
Both the Virginia games, as well as the games played in Florida, only count towards their total number of games played, not toward their league record, but they may still be a factor in Fredonia’s overall performance.
“These games don’t count towards SUNYACs, they count for our total number of games played, but when it comes down to the end, if you don’t win your conference tournament, it could get you in at large,” said Ciccarello.
This season, the women’s softball team consists of six freshmen, four sophomores, five juniors and two seniors.
So a large part of these trips is for the team to mesh, get more experience, and even in the end potentially push the team into a good spot when it’s most necessary.
“I think playing these games before regular conference games is a great experience,” said Seegar. “Being able to go out there and be able to take risks knowing that it’s okay to make a mistake is really important. I think it’s a huge part of the learning curve.”
One thing both the coaches and players want the campus community to know is that they want all the support they can get.
“You know, we actually have games at home,” said Ciccarello. “We would love to have more people in the stands to learn more about the sport that is very misunderstood.”
The spring games can be streamed live online at the 2020 Softball Schedule page on fredoniabluedevils.com from March 15 to March 21.
Their schedule can be found there as well.