WEB UPDATE: Crimson Rallies to Win Highlander Classic

The Harvard softball team’s rollercoaster-ride of a weekend ended on a high on Sunday when it took first place at the Highlander Classic at the Radford University Softball Field.

Coming off of a two-week, no-game hiatus and midterm season, the Crimson (9-5) looked a little out of form in its opening games against Eastern Michigan (9-13) and Radford (16-5).

“I think on Friday and Saturday we came out and we were a little rusty,” co-captain Hayley Bock said. “Our timing was off. It’s really tough to come from playing in Florida and Texas outside and come back inside to Palmer Dixon.”

But by the final day of the tournament, Harvard certainly was back into its winning ways, avenging two of its losses from earlier that weekend to take the title. The victory marked the Crimson’s second consecutive tournament win.

“Coming off of midterms week, there were a million excuses we could have given, but we had to rise above those and make individual adjustments to play the best softball that we could,” Bock said.

“Overall we had ups and downs all weekend,” co-captain Bailey Vertovez added. “We came out [on Sunday] knowing we wanted to get into the championship game and once we got there, we knew we wanted to take it all. Coming out and winning today was huge for us.”

HARVARD 3, RADFORD 2

Despite losing, 8-0, to Radford just the day before, Harvard came back to defeat the Highlanders, 3-2, in the tournament final.

Instrumental in the Crimson’s turnaround was freshman pitching sensation Rachel Brown.

“When [Brown is] on the mound, it’s like total domination,” Vertovez said. “You just have the feeling that she’s going to strike girls out and it’s just something the entire team feeds off of. Even though she’s a freshman, she doesn’t act like it—she just commands the other team she plays.”

The first-year shut out Radford in the game’s final six innings, striking out seven and walking two. Brown was also named tournament MVP for her efforts.

Down 2-1 in the third inning, it was another freshman, Whitney Shaw, who came up big for Harvard. Her single in that frame allowed junior catcher Jessica Pledger and Bock to score the tying and winning runs.

HARVARD 10, EASTERN MICHIGAN 6

The Crimson showcased its offensive prowess in its semifinal matchup with the Eagles on Sunday morning, scoring 10 runs on 11 hits to power the team to the final.

Junior outfielder Jen Francis went four-for-four at bat and Bock had a three-run triple in the fourth inning to lead the Harvard offensive unit.

The blitz came after a shutout at the hands of the Highlanders prompted a long team meeting on Saturday night.

“The team needed to step back and reassess the situation,” Bock said. “We had a team meeting and problem-solved a little bit. We really just worked on our timing and we knew we needed a lot more hits and our bats really came alive [on Sunday].”

RADFORD 8, HARVARD 0

Coming into its first matchup with the Highlanders, the Crimson had only played 12 games this season, as compared to Radford’s 19. Harvard’s lack of time in the dirt showed early in the game as the team quickly fell behind 4-0 by the third inning.

“Saturday afternoon, it was a learning experience for us,” Vertovez said. “Radford really came out and they had played way more games than us.”

The Highlanders pulled away in the fourth inning, adding three runs, and cruised to an easy 8-0 victory.

HARVARD 7, TOLEDO 2

Although the Crimson entered the seventh inning trailing the Rockets by a score of 2-1, Harvard managed to get six of its batters on base and have five score during that stretch. Junior third-baseman Melissa Schellberg—who came off the bench to pinch-hit for sophomore outfielder Emily Henderson—plated freshman Jane Alexander.

The run opened the Crimson floodgates and Harvard ended the inning—and the game—up 7-2. Seven different players scored each of Harvard’s runs.

“We came out in the seventh and Melissa Schellberg hit a shot to score a run,” Vertovez said. “She started our rally in the seventh inning and we ended up winning there which was huge.”

Brown was once again active in setting up the Crimson’s win by striking out 12 Toledo batters and only allowing a total of four hits.

EASTERN MICHIGAN 5, HARVARD 1

Though Harvard scored the first run of the game, it was Eastern Michigan that eventually ended up on top by plating five consecutive runs later in the game.

The game was Harvard’s first since Mar. 8.

“Basically we were just getting out there and swinging and seeing pitchers that weren’t from our own team,” Vertovez said.