Softball Soars to Usual Heights

Another year, another Ivy League title for the Harvard softball squad.

The Crimson won its second consecutive conference title in dramatic fashion, catching league leader Cornell in the final weekend by sweeping Dartmouth at the Big Green's home field.

Although the championship ride was not as smooth as the 2000 iteration, the Crimson showed its mettle down the stretch and shares the title with the Big Red.

"Everything fell together at the end," said newly elected junior co-captain Tiffany Whitton. "We went out and showed how we can play against Dartmouth."

After gaining a share of the title, the Crimson lost two straight games to Cornell that would have sent them to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season.

Tough times marked the start of the year. The team's trip to the highly competitive Worth Invitational produced four losses to top-ranked squads who had begun their seasons months before.

Another big blow to the Crimson was the injury to sophomore catcher and team sparkplug Monica Monijo. Montijo was cleated in a collision at the plate against then-No. 4 Cal-Berkeley, and required 300 stitches to mend the gash.

Things would quickly pick up for Harvard. The Crimson traveled south for its spring break trip, the Buzz Classic in Georgia.

In another tough field staked with top teams, the Crimson surged to a second-place finish among 25 teams.

After dropping its first two preliminary round games, the Crimson won five in a row, beginning by upsetting then-No. 23 Wisconsin.

The extra inning victory over the Badgers was made possible due to the sixth-inning game-tying home run off the bat of junior right fielder Sarah Koppel. Koppel launched five longballs on the spring break trip.

On the trip, senior hurler Chelsea Thoke-who has been the Crimson's ace for three years-had three complete game victories. Thoke also broke the school's strikeout record, set by Tasha Cupp '98.

After being stopped by Cal-Berkeley in the finals, the Crimson rounded out its spring break with three doubleheaders.

The Crimson faltered in those contests, as it was swept by Georgia Tech and Canisius but managed to take two from Mercer.

Despite the unfitting end to the impressive Buzz finish, Harvard was happy with its performance.

"We turned some heads in Georgia," co-captain Mairead McKendry said. "We went into that trip thinking that it would be an indicator of how far along we were as a team."

That indication of progress was especially important on this year's squad. The team had lost the services of Ivy League Player of the Year Deborah Abeles and featured ten freshmen.

The Crimson next wiped out Holy Cross in a doubleheader to enter Ivy League play 9-13, confident that its tough preseason schedule had prepared it for conference play.

We had a lot of expectations coming out of Georgia, said co-captain Jen Vogt-Lowell. "I think we were a little humbled early though. Then we started to fight hard."

The Crimson dropped its first Ivy contest to Princeton, as Thoke lost a 2-1 pitchers duel o Brie Galicinao.

The Crimson quickly righted itself, sweeping the rest of the weekend, including two over Penn. Freshman Rachhel Goldberg went 7-8 against the Quakers and ignited the winning rallies in each game.

The following weekend, another tough 2-1 loss would slow the Crimson's momentum. This time, Whitton could not get any run support against the lowly Columbia Lions. The Crimson stormed back to take the second game.

In a preview of the NCAA showdown that was to come, Harvard split an exciting series with the Big Red, as Thoke controlled the first game, and Cornell senior Nicole Zitarelli dominated the second.

The Crimson had to then play come back for the rest of the year, chasing both Dartmouth and Cornell.

And come back they did.

The Crimson reeled off six straight conference wins, sprinkling in non-conference victories against Boston University and URI.

The last two Ivy victories came against Dartmouth and gave the Crimson another shot at Cornell to head to NCAAs.

After two exhibition game losses, the Crimson headed into the Cornell match up intent on reaching NCAAs.

It was not to be this year, as Cornell played solid softball and handed the Crimson two straight losses.

"It was hard because it all ended sooner than we thought it would," Vogt-Lowell said.

Harvard looks toward another rebuilding season, as a large contingent of freshmen are heading for Cambridge.

"We came in this season with a young team, and we did something tough [winning an Ivy title]," Thoke said. "The team has a similar challenge next year, but they seem prepared."