by Matt Koll
This year’s PAC Softball Championship Tournament features two teams that were in a tight battle with each other all year long to claim the top seed. The season performances of Geneva and Westminster is seemingly minuscule, at least when you dig into the numbers.
These two have identical 16-2 PAC records and identical 16 HR as a team. Westminster has hit just five more doubles (70) than Geneva this year and also has recorded five more hits (384) than the Golden Tornadoes. With four fewer games played, the Titans also hold the edge in team batting average with an impressive .393 average, 34 points better than Geneva’s .359 mark.
Offense isn’t all…Geneva and Westminster are only separated by 17 points in team ERA, with Westminster being the only team to finish the year with an ERA under 2.00 (1.92) while Geneva is right behind them at 2.09. They are also the two best fielding teams in the PAC, separated by a mere five percentage points. Geneva posted a .959 fielding percentage while Westminster boasts a .963 fielding percentage.
But let’s not look past the 3-seeded Bethany Bison or the 4-seeded Washington & Jefferson Presidents. Not to mention the 5 seed Grove City Wolverines & the 6 seed Chatham Cougars.
Here’s more about each team heading into the Championship Tournament…
#1 GENEVA (33-5, 16-2 PAC)
Winner of five straight to close out the regular season, the Golden Tornadoes secured the top seed and hosting duties for the PAC Championship Tournament for the first time in school history.
Geneva is eyeing up its first PAC Title since 2012. Need some more history that this team has made this year? How about the longest winningest streak in Geneva history, racking up 17 straight before a 3-2 loss to Bethany on April 10th.
Head coach Van Zanic says he’s developed a formula in how he uses his pitching to maximize their effectiveness. It’s been junior Nicole West in the first game of a doubleheader, followed by sophomore Haley Smith in the second game. Those two have provided quite the one-two punch. West finished the season 3rd in ERA (1.89) and 6th in strikeouts (74) while Smith’s 2.02 ERA ranks 5th in the conference and her 85 strikeouts rank 4th. West handles the bat well, too. She’s got 2 HRs and 23 RBI to go along with a .378 batting average.
Zanic calls junior Sarah Johnson a “dynamic” leadoff hitter and that’s certainly not too strong of a word to describe her season. Johnson leads the PAC in batting average with at an incredible .522, racking up 72 hits for a new single-season program record. She also leads the nation among NCAA Division III schools in base hits.
There’s no doubt this team has a knack for rising up to the big moments like, say, a championship tournament.
“This just seems to have that kind of make-up where they step up when things are most important,” said Zanic. “It happened earlier in the season against Westminster when they were undefeated and we won two games against them. They’ve stepped up in crucial moments all year long.”
While Zanic calls Westminster “the cream of the crop”, there’s no shortage of confidence and belief that Geneva is capable of taking the title once again.
#2 WESTMINSTER (32-2, 16-2 PAC)
Back to back losses to Geneva on April 7th prevented this team from claiming the top seed heading into this tournament, something that the Titans and head coach Jan Reddinger accept and hold themselves accountable for. It doesn’t change the fact that they might be the most dangerous team in the tournament. They lead the conference in team batting average, slugging percentage, fielding percentage and ERA.
The Titans have an impressive five hitters who boast a batting average of .400 or better. Reddinger admits that there hasn’t been any special formula, it’s just talent taking over.
“I don’t feel we are approaching our batting any differently then we have in the past. During a normal practice, we get a minimum of 100 swings in. I really think they have approached practice well and it has carried over onto the field.”
But what really makes this a complete team? Defense.
“It seems to be the rule that the best defense wins games,” says Reddinger. “We’ve had more errors than our opponents in only two games this year. Those were the 2 games that we have lost.
Both our hitting and fielding have been strong this year because we have a team full of talented players. Because of that, each player at every position is being challenged every day at practice which makes everyone work that much harder.”
Westminster heads into tournament play having won 14 games in a row.
#3 BETHANY (19-15, 11-5 PAC)
After sweeping three consecutive series against Franciscan, Thiel and Waynesburg, the Bison had their series against Saint Vincent cancelled and then got swept by Grove City to end the regular season slate.
Bethany’s defense is solid, ranking 3rd in the PAC and just six percentage points off the leader. A name to watch out for with this team: sophomore Tatum Barrass. She owns the conference’s eighth-highest batting average at .425. Junior catcher Jennifer Oberthur provides stability behind the dish and at it with the bat, leading the Bison with 24 RBI on the season.
On the mound it’s been pitcher/outfielder Josie Wise leading the way with a team-leading 2.39 ERA in 97.1 innings pitched, including 16 complete games. Her 105 strikeouts rank second in the PAC, as well.
Bethany takes on Westminster at 10 am on Friday. The PAC Sports Network will have coverage of the entire tournament on pacstream.net!
#4 W&J (17-14-1, 9-7 PAC)
The Presidents hit a rough stretch in the middle of the season they lost 9 of 12 games between March 23rd-April 13th, dropping or splitting series to Waynesburg, Geneva, Westminster, Bethany and Chatham. W&J then responded by winning eight straight games and four consecutive series to get back over .500 in PAC play on the season.
The Presidents were buoyed by their pitching in that winning streak, led by junior Alisha Kulka and freshman Jordan Hinz. Both rank in the top 11 in the PAC in ERA (11th, 8th respectively) while making double digit starts.
Offensively, sophomore utility Peyton Eckrode has put together quite the season, ranking 5th in the PAC with a .441 batting average to go along with 2 HR, 12 RBI and a .657 slugging percentage. This is a well-rounded group, but one thing that the Presidents need to make sure they stay on top of is their work with the leather. They come in ranking toward the bottom in the conference in fielding percentage.
W&J will face the winner of #6 Chatham and #5 Grove City in the opening round.
#5 GROVE CITY (14-18, 9-9 PAC)
The scrappy Wolverines found a way to reach the .500 mark in PAC play this season and get themselves into the play-in round. Effective pitching has gotten them there, finishing just behind W&J for fourth in the conference in team ERA (3.50). Senior Ashley Cornelius’ 2.55 ERA and 103 strikeouts are the PAC’s 7th and 3rd best marks, respectively.
They were originally slated to take on the Chatham Cougars on Tuesday, but rainouts have pushed back this showdown until Thursday at 3 pm.
#6 CHATHAM (13-19, 8-10 PAC)
Graduate student Kayla Gee is a stud. In 99.1 innings pitched, Gee boasts the lowest-ERA in the conference at just 1.62, while her 123 strikeouts are by far the PAC’s best. She alone can keep the Cougars in any game, it’s just a matter of the offensive coming together well enough to support her efforts. Chatham and Grove City split both series and the four games they played against each other this year.
