Softball warms up with fall games
Catcher Leigha Clarkson ’10 helped lead the Big Green softball team to an overall 3-1 record in the weekend’s doubleheaders.
By Jonathan Gault
Published on Thursday, October 22, 2009
The Dartmouth softball team played two doubleheader scrimmages over the weekend, going 3-1 overall.
On Saturday, the Big Green traveled to St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., dropping the first game by a score of 2-1 before winning a close second game, 5-4.
On Sunday, the women returned home to Sachem Field and played the University of Southern New Hampshire, sweeping the twin-bill by scores of 8-5 and 5-4.
Dartmouth’s team was not at full strength, as many of the athletes are currently off-campus, catcher Leigha Clarkson ’10 said.
“We’re just trying to get some experience,” she said. “We haven’t been together for a few months, and we have a lot of new girls.” Second baseman Kirsten Costello ‘10 said she was pleased with the way the Dartmouth hitters responded to live pitching in the pre-season contests.
“The way we came out aggressively swinging our bats, we were making pretty good contact,” she said. “We were hitting line drives all over the field.”
In the spring, the Big Green will look to build on the success it enjoyed last season, when it posted a 23-23 record (14-9 Ivy) and came within one game of the Ivy League title, losing to Cornell in the championship series.
The team has improved in recent years under coach Christine Vogt, who is entering her fifth season at Dartmouth.
The Big Green has amassed a 46-45 record in Ivy League competition under Vogt.
From the program’s beginning in 1995 until Vogt’s arrival in 2004, the Big Green went 42-86 in Ivy League play — a .328 winning percentage.
Costello credited Vogt for recruiting well and for improving the team from year to year.
“As soon as she got here, our program got better year after year,” Costello said. “We’ve been working since we were freshmen, and we continually grow.”
One bright spot to look out for on the softball team is Molly Khalil ’12. Last year, as a freshman, Khalil was named first-team All-Ivy and was named to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-Region team.
Khalil was Dartmouth’s first all-region honoree since Sarah Damon ’02.