Cactus flowers
St. Peter’s College’s softball team heads to the desert and the NCAA Tourney
Just two weeks ago, the St. Peter’s College softball team was facing the crossroads of their season. Having lost five of six games to Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference foes, SPC head coach Ron DeRogatis had to believe that his Peahens had come to the end of the road.
"Once we slumped, I started to wonder whether we could do it," said DeRogatis, a long-time softball coach on the high school and AAU levels, before taking over the Peahens four years ago. "I thought we had a real good chance before the season, but after we started to slide, things didn’t look too good."
Things looked worse when the Peahens dropped the opener of a doubleheader against Niagara in the regular season finale. If they lost the second game, then all hopes of qualifying for the MAAC Tournament were gone.
"We needed to beat Niagara," energetic catcher Marsha Kelley said. "It was as simple as that."
The Peahens managed to get by Niagara, holding off a late rally to capture a 10-9 victory to earn the fourth and final berth in the MAAC Tournament last weekend in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Once they were in the tourney, the magic came back.
"We got some amazing key hits at key moments," DeRogatis said. "We were losing, 5-1, in our first game and then got a grand slam and everything came back. We got great pitching as well. We seemed to catch lightning in a bottle, like it was meant to be."
Sure enough, the Peahens won all four games at the MAAC Tournament, including a 2-0 shutout of Marist in the title game. For the first time in school’s history, the Peahens are the MAAC softball champions.
They boarded a plane Wednesday morning and headed for Tucson, Arizona to compete in the NCAA West Region of the NCAA Softball Championships, one of 48 teams to receive a berth nationwide.
There is only one catch – the Peahens are facing the University of Arizona in the first round of the tournament, the No. 1-ranked team in entire nation.
Arizona merely owns a 57-4 record, playing against the best competition in the country. They have a collective team batting average of .346 and hold the opposition to a .135 batting average. Arizona’s top pitcher, Jennie Fitch, has a 27-0 record and an 0.24 ERA. Those numbers are beyond eye-popping.
But none of that bothers the Peahens at all.
"The way I look at it, we’re playing with house money," DeRogatis said. "Winning the MAAC title for the first time in the school’s history was one thing. Just getting there is the accomplishment. We’ll go out there and do the best we can."
It’s a miracle team that will represent St. Peter’s this weekend. The team’s starting shortstop, Nicole Tango, is playing with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her knee and she wears a heavy brace when she plays.
"I don’t know how she’s doing it," DeRogatis said. "I’ve never seen a tougher kid."
The team doesn’t have a host of superstars and appear to be overmatched, heading off to face the No. 1 team in the nation.
But Sandy Attanasio, a junior right-handed pitcher who set school records for wins (22) and shutouts (12) this season, including the title game, isn’t caught up in the hype.
"I may be different than everyone else, but I think we can win," Attanasio said. "We’ve already proved ourselves as MAAC champions. Now, we just have to go out there and play our best. I’m excited. Let’s just go out there and see what happens. If it’s the best team in the country, that’s fine. I think we’ll do fine."
Kelley agreed.
"People had some doubts that we could do it, but we did," Kelley said. "I think after last year, we had a lot to prove and we came into this season with hopes of winning."
Although it had been four full days after the stunning win, the Peahens were still having a tough time believing what they accomplished.
"People were coming up to me and saying, ‘Congratulations,’ and I said, ‘For what?’" Attanasio said. "I’m still shocked that we did it."
"I find myself saying, ‘I can’t believe what happened,’" Kelley said. "But it’s happening, because we’re going."
DeRogatis believes that the berth in the NCAA Tournament will go a long way to help the program gain respectability throughout the nation.
"As long as we represent ourselves," DeRogatis said. "It’s going to be a good recruiting tool."
And an experience to last a lifetime.