The Bobcats were in Hartford over the weekend to take on the host Trinity College Bantams. Trinity needed both victories to secure their spot in the ECAC tournament. With that in mind they threw their aces of their pitching staff at the Bobcats, though their offense was more than enough to carry the day. The Bantams outscored the Bobcats 11-4 in the first game, and 21-6 in the second game. Trinity hit seven home runs in the two games off Bates' pitching, and cranked out a total of 29 hits. Add four errors for the Bobcats in the two games and you have a recipe for disaster. Sophomore Scott McAuliffe (Concord, N.H.) had three singles in game one, and senior Jon Smith (Laconia, N.H.) had three singles in game two. First-year outfielder Jason Coulie (Manchester, N.H.) hit his first collegiate home run for the Bobcats in game two.
With the Trinity double header long forgotten about the Bobcats took the field against their rival Colby College White Mules on the 7th of May. With snow flurries filling the air junior pitcher Chris Snow (Tewksbury, Mass.) took to the mound. Snow had already pitched a complete nine inning 2-1 victory over Bowdoin this season, and looked to add a Colby victory to his resume. 162 pitches later he would. Snow faced 41 batters, walking 8, striking out two, and allowing five earned runs. That would be more than enough pitching for the Bobcats on this day as they out hit the White Mules 15-11 including two homers in the second inning by first-year Austin Philbin (Clinton, Mass.) and senior Jeff Barricelli (Beverly, Mass.). Philbin finished the day 4-5 with three RBI's and three runs scored improving his team leading batting average to .405. Barricelli had a single to go with his second homer of the season, and Coulie added two singles and an RBI as well. The Bobcats' first-year catcher Frost Hubbard (East Walpole, Mass.) added two hits and two RBI's to go with a walk and he also threw a White Mule runner out trying to steal second.
With the victory, Bates secured their share of a three way tie in the CBB. It was the first time the current seniors had beaten both Colby and Bowdoin in the same season.
On May 10th the Bobcats took the field for their final games of the season. The double header against Eastern Nazarene College would mark the end of a rocky season for Bates.
In game one the Bobcats were held hitless until the sixth inning when Hubbard singled. He was stranded on base and the Bobcats saw themselves down 4-0 in the bottom of the seventh. They responded, tying the game 4-4 to send it into extra innings. In the bottom of the eight with one out and a runner on first and third Smith stepped in to the batters box for what appeared to be an intentional walk. The first toss was close to the plate and Smith slapped a single to right-center bringing in the winning run. With the 5-4 victory Bates improved to 7-12.
In game two, Eastern Nazarene jumped out quickly with 12 runs in the first. Bates went through three pitchers in the first before Junior Dan Chisholm (Westfield, Mass.) came in to stop the bleeding. Chisholm pitched 5 1/3 innings not allowing another run while striking out six. Coulie came into pitch the seventh and struck out the side. The 12-run deficit was too much to overcome and Bates fell 12-3. All of Bates' 10 seniors started the game. Bates ended the season with a 7-13 record.
Game one of the doubleheader evolved into a pitching duel. Sophomore pitcher and designated hitter Becky Gasior (Park Ridge, N.J.) pitched a fine game, allowing just two runs, but unfortunately one of them came in the bottom of the eight inning to give the Bantams the 2-1 victory. Gasior threw three strikeouts, and the Bobcats made no errors. Trinity got the big hit when they needed it, just one of only six Trinity hits in the game. The Bobcats could not mount any offense against Trinity pitching. Bates ended the game with only two hits and two walks. They picked up their run in the sixth inning on three Trinity errors, a walk, and a single by junior left fielder Brandi Richards (Kingsfield, Maine). The only other hit for the Bobcats was by senior Nicole Ouellette (Wilmington, Mass.).
In game two, senior pitcher Kara Jackson (Fallston, Md.) took the mound for the Bobcats. Bates' problems came in the 3rd inning as they allowed five Trinity runs on four hits, including three doubles, a walk and a hit batter. Gasior came on to pitch the rest of the game in the fourth allowing no more Trinity runners to cross the plate. Bates could only scored twice, falling 5-2. Defensively the Bobcats were errorless again. Offensively, Richards added another hit for the Bobcats increasing her team leading batting average to .371. Katherine Marshall (Contoocook, N.H.) added a hit for the Bobcat's as well, and her average now stands at .344.
In Sherry Deshaine's last game as the Bobcat's head coach the team traveled to Waterville to take on their rival CBB opponent Colby College.
The Bobcats sent Gasior to the mound to take on the White Mules. She was 5-6 coming into the game with a 3.49 era. However, Bates ran into tough pitching as Colby shut Bates' offense down, allowing only two hits through seven innings. With the final score of 5-1 in Colby's favor the Bobcats finished the season with a 7-13 record. Jackson (Fallston, MD) ripped a double in the seventh and classmate Ouellette added a single for Bates' two hits. Deshaine's career record in softball at Bates was 158-173 and spanned from 1977 to present. She also has a career record of 174-119-37 as the head coach of the field hockey team which spans from 1969 to 1994. Deschaine will be on hand in her last appearance as head coach on May 10th as Bates will play it's annual Alumni softball game. The game is scheduled to start around noon time at the Russell Street Field.
Head coach Al Bates placed 9th out of the 25 teams at the NCAA Division III New England championships. Williams College won the meet with Bowdoin finishing sixth and Colby in eight just 8 points ahead of the Bobcat's 25 points.
Bates took home three second place finishes that were all very close to being first place finishes. Senior Paul Kolter (Manchester, N.H.) continued to impress in the hammer throw as he threw a distance of 179'.02", just one foot behind the winning throw. Senior Steve Beardsley (Melrose, Mass.) perhaps took part in the finish of the day as he nearly won the 1500-meter run. Beardsley time of 4:00.65 was good for second place just over a half a second off first and just a quarter of a second ahead of the third place runner. A close second for best finish of the day also involved a Bates athlete, junior Justin Freeman (Franklin, N.H.). Freeman's time of 31:20.26 gave him second place in the 10,000-meter run, less than one second off the winning time of 31:20.26. Junior shot-put thrower Walter Jackson (Hartford, Conn.) gained All-New England status with his sixth place finish. His throw of 46' 00.50' also gave the team two points towards the team competition. Only the top sixth in each event can call themselves All New England athletes. Both sophomores Aron Shapiro and Billy McEvila just missed that title. Shapiro finished seventh in the javelin with a throw of 165'04". McEvila finished seventh in the hammer with a throw of 162'04". Also finishing seventh for the Bobcats was first-year student Michael Danahy (South Windsor, Conn.) in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 15:15.77.
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