Young Softball Team Looks to Flourish

This year's softball team is "going all the way. This year our team is better than last year and we are going to be a tough team to beat," says sophomore pitcher Jamie Fraysher.

Last year the Lady Royals finished sixth in the conference with a record of 10-8, while their overall record was 23-18. In the Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament they lost in the second round with a record of 1-2. The last time the team won the ODAC tournament was 1990.

This year's team is young, having no seniors, but the team has high aspirations. Led by juniors Natasha Viafora and Miranda White, the team hopes to improve from last year's statistics and season results. They are ranked fourth going into the regular season play. However, Fraysher says they will end up as number one.

This year there are three additions: Nicole "Scoop" Shelton, Nicole "TNT" Wade and Corrie Wood. Wood is a transfer junior pitcher; Shelton and Wade are freshmen pitchers and infielders.

The softball team is known around campus for their great team chemistry. Most of the team members live in Roselawn, which allows for the development of great friendships. This could also open the door for more personal differences to occur or make it more difficult to keep personal differences off the field or to keep softball differences on the field. However, this is not a problem for the team. Fraysher comments, "We are a great bunch of girls that get along and we would do anything for each other. I believe we have become closer living in the same dorm. Of course there are always some flaws but we always make up."

The team's head coach is J.D. McCurdy, who has been with the program for three seasons and has greatly improved the softball program. The season before he came, the team went 5-20. In his first season McCurdy coached the team to a record of 11-22. In 2005, his second season, the team went 17-14. In 2006, the ladies went 23-18 and entered the ODAC tournament for the first time since 1992. Before coming to EMU, McCurdy coached at Turner-Ashby High School as the JV and assistant varsity coach. He graduated from Bridgewater College with a bachelor degree in Health and Physical Education.

The two assistant coaches are Rebecca Stutzman, who is entering her third season here, and Micah Pugh, who was just added to the coaching staff this year.