by Jason Cooper
Staff Writer
The smell of fresh cut grass, the sound of aluminum clanging, the sight of grapefruit sized balls whizzing through the air. Ahhh yes, softball.
Women’s softball is once again in full swing and the girls of spring are ready for a successful season.
Head coach Julie Kline said, “We plan to play hard every game this season. We are going to compete to the best of our ability each game.”
The ability carried by the Leopards is nothing short of impressive.
“There are six girls who made either SCIAC All-Conference Player and All-West Region Player or both,” said Kline.
These six along with three other returnees helped compose a record of 26-10 last season, good enough for a second-place finish in SCIAC standings.
Although the returnees will provide natural leadership, there are five fresh faces, including four freshmen. Kline emphasizes that all have their responsibilities.
“Everybody on the team should be a leader. I think the team has come together fine in the pre-season and I think once games start they will get much closer,” Kline said.
Coming together to play well will need to be a priority for the Leopards as they face a tough conference.
Teams from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Occidental, and the team that edged them out of first place last year, Cal Lutheran, will give the Leopards a run for their money.
“There is not just one team that will give us tough opposition, every team in our conference is going to be tough,” said Kline.
The Leopards will find strength in their very strong and smart hitters.
“Consistency will be their biggest problem,”said Kline.
Well it seemed that consistency got the best of the Leopards on Tuesday as they faced off against the Cougars of Azusa Pacific University in their first two games of the season.
APU consistently scored runs as ULV consistently did not. In a double-header the Leopards suffered two losses 14-5 and 10-1.
The Leopards will face Claremont-Mudd-Scripps tomorrow to begin SCIAC play. Game time begins at 2 p.m. at Ben Hines Field.
The next conference match will not be until Wednesday, March 3, when La Verne battles Whittier at home.
