ANDREA ZUCCHI — They’re ending with a bang.
The Denison Big Red softball team has been making major strides towards a great end of the season with an improved 12-10 record.
Their latest victory came against Wooster College who was previously undefeated in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC).
Emilie Fisher, 20 had three big hits and scored one of the two runs in the Big Red’s 2-1 win.
The other run came on a big home run by Brennah Dutcher ‘20. It was Dutcher’s second home run of the season. She added three two other hits in what was a very strong day at the plate for her.
It was also an impressive performance in the circle for the Big Red.
Colleen Hoffman ‘19 threw a complete game, throwing seven innings and allowing just one unearned run in the win. She also added two strikeouts.
She held a very strong Wooster side that included the reigning NCAC player of the week Emmalee Cooke. The win was Hoffman’s sixth of the year.
While the team hit a slump in the middle of their season, they are rebounding and showing how strong they have become. Fisher has seen major improvement in the team even as they face tough competition stating, “we are a strong team but we have been playing some tough competition. We are seeing what we are made of.”
This mentality is what makes the team unique, according to Fischer. This year the team has faced challenges, but states that the team’s strength is to, “pick each other up and are good at supporting each other when down, especially recently.” This type of support will be needed as the softball team continues to face tough competition down the road.
Kacie Kohls, ‘21, echoed a lot of what Fisher stated and explained that team chemistry is what has heightened the team recently. According to Kohls, players on the team “have so much drive and effort. These traits are what is going to carry us through to the end of the season.”
Speaking on how both team chemistry and an end-of-season push have impacted scores, Kohls states, “our last game was on Saturday and we won. It was such great softball by both teams but we were so pumpet and heated that we lost the first game. We took that emotion and put it all into the next one.” This type of energy is what Kohls feels has grown the most throughout the year, and what she is most excited to see continue to evolve.
Despite some mid-season bumps in the road, Fisher feels confident that the team has hit a great point and thinks they are playing their best softball so far. With this in mind, Fischer is excited about what the rest of the year will have to offer.
Up next for Big Red softball is a home doubleheader against rival Kenyon College on Wednesday April 17 at 3:30 p.m.