While 2012 was the year of Sara Plourde and shutdown pitching, 2013 was the year of offense and balance. The six team conference tournament field was not decided until the final weekend, as both the top four seeds and bottom two spots were up for grabs.
St. Joseph's was the top team in the regular season, as the Hawks won their first ever regular season title. Fordham finished second for the second straight season. Temple had one of its better season's finishing third and George Washington had its best regular season ever by finishing fourth. St. Louis returned to the A10 tournament after missing the previous two, while Dayton returned after a one year absence.
The 2013 Atlantic 10 Championship was without a couple of familiar faces as UMass and Charlotte both missed the A10 Tournament for the first time ever. Butler came up just short in its bid as rain did in its and Charlotte's chances.
While the pitching records is the A10 remained untouched and unthreatened, the offensive records were demolished for the most part. New single season bests were recorded for HR (Elise Fortier with 20), RBI (Steph Pasquale with 80), and Runs (Sarah Prezioso with 65). Jamie LaBovick also had an amazing 28 game hitting streak for Fordham. Temple also left the A10 with a blast as they hit 94 HR in their Atlantic 10 swan song. The conference as a whole saw increased numbers across the board in Batting Average, Runs, Hits, Doubles, Triples, Home Runs, Steals, as well as virtually every other offensive category.
Steph Pasquale of Temple had one of the greatest seasons in A10 history and was the slam dunk choice for Player of the Year. She hit a staggering .465 with 87 Hits, 15 HR, and 80 RBI, but the stat that truly indicates how tough of an out she was her 3 SO in 187 AB. Pasquale knows the zone better than just about anyone out there and she got in her hacks every time she stepped in to the batter's box. A10 pitchers are breathing a sigh of relief that she will be moving on to the American to terrorize pitchers.
With the graduations of Sara Plourde, Jen Mineau, and Erin Gallagher it was expected that pitching numbers would be down, but few expected them to plummet as much as they did. In fact, the only major pitching statistic that was an improvement from 2012 was saves. It will be interesting to see whether 2014 will see a return of the 2012 numbers or the beginning of a trend favoring hitters.
There was one shining star in the circle during the regular season and it was Taryn Ashway of St. Joseph's. Ashway closed her career out in style, as she went 25-4 with a 1.88 ERA and 181 SO in 204.2 IP. She played a central role in leading the Hawks to their first ever Atlantic 10 Regular Season Title.
Another big part of St. Joseph's regular season title was freshman Sarah Yoos. Yoos was the hands down choice for Rookie of the Year. She burst on to the scene with a .367 BA, 44 Hits, 3 HR, and 33 RBI. However, the best stat to characterize her impact was her .519 OBP, which led the conference. Yoos did it all for the Hawks in 2013 and she will be a big part of their success moving forward.
The Atlantic 10 Tournament was all about taking care of business and that's exactly what Fordham did as soon as they stepped on to the field. After being denied the title in 2010 in Amherst, it was clear that they were not going to let that happen again. The Rams relied on a solid trio of pitching in the circle with Michele Daubman, Jamie LaBovick, and Patti Maloney and a powerful lineup that produced hits and runs 1-9. Paige Ortiz came away with the Most Outstanding Player award (and was the top offensive force after having a great week), but it was really the entire team that stepped up their efforts en route to the title.
After winning in Amherst, Fordham has the misfortune of being sent to Norman, Oklahoma to a brutal regional. The Rams performed well against Arkansas, but came up just short in two games. Fordham ensured its Empire State supremacy by taking down Marist as well.
The Rams were just able to fend off St. Joseph's, which refused to go away after dropping the winner's bracket final against Fordham. St. Joseph's scrapped and clawed their way to Sunday and even forced the winner-take-all game. Liz Mendez was absolutely spectacular for St. Joseph's and if the conference would award MOP to a player from a losing team (note Kristin Schmidt of LSU won WCWS MOP after finishing 3rd), Mendez would win it hands down. She went 3-1 and allowed just 4 ER on 20 hits in 24.1 innings, while striking out 20. She made a name for herself at the A10 Tournament, which makes the snub of her from the Second Team All-Conference and the All-Rookie that more glaring of an omission. She enters the summer as the clear favorite for 2014 Pitcher of the Year.
The breakout star of the tournament may have been Liz Mendez, but Brianna Lore came in a close second. The lefty was outstanding in Amherst and she came very close to getting the Billikens to Sunday. Lore has an incredibly bright future and she will be one to watch next year.
In the past nine years, only UMass and Fordham have won the Atlantic 10 Tournament, so it will be interesting to see if one of them can win it again in 2014. It is important to peak during the postseason and the Rams did just that this year.
To wrap up the season further and look towards next year, here are some of the posts we have coming up
Why transfer to the A10?
Taking the conference tournament to the next level
Parting is such sweet sorrow: saying goodbye to Temple, Charlotte, and Butler
We welcome feedback any other news whether it be recruiting/scheduling/transfer/thoughts on the conference tournament or anything else. Please email us at atlantic10softball@gmail.com
While the pitching records is the A10 remained untouched and unthreatened, the offensive records were demolished for the most part. New single season bests were recorded for HR (Elise Fortier with 20), RBI (Steph Pasquale with 80), and Runs (Sarah Prezioso with 65). Jamie LaBovick also had an amazing 28 game hitting streak for Fordham. Temple also left the A10 with a blast as they hit 94 HR in their Atlantic 10 swan song. The conference as a whole saw increased numbers across the board in Batting Average, Runs, Hits, Doubles, Triples, Home Runs, Steals, as well as virtually every other offensive category.
 |
| Steph Pasquale (Thom Kendall) |
Steph Pasquale of Temple had one of the greatest seasons in A10 history and was the slam dunk choice for Player of the Year. She hit a staggering .465 with 87 Hits, 15 HR, and 80 RBI, but the stat that truly indicates how tough of an out she was her 3 SO in 187 AB. Pasquale knows the zone better than just about anyone out there and she got in her hacks every time she stepped in to the batter's box. A10 pitchers are breathing a sigh of relief that she will be moving on to the American to terrorize pitchers.
With the graduations of Sara Plourde, Jen Mineau, and Erin Gallagher it was expected that pitching numbers would be down, but few expected them to plummet as much as they did. In fact, the only major pitching statistic that was an improvement from 2012 was saves. It will be interesting to see whether 2014 will see a return of the 2012 numbers or the beginning of a trend favoring hitters.
 |
| Taryn Ashway (Thom Kendall) |
There was one shining star in the circle during the regular season and it was Taryn Ashway of St. Joseph's. Ashway closed her career out in style, as she went 25-4 with a 1.88 ERA and 181 SO in 204.2 IP. She played a central role in leading the Hawks to their first ever Atlantic 10 Regular Season Title.
 |
| Sarah Yoos (Thom Kendall) |
Another big part of St. Joseph's regular season title was freshman Sarah Yoos. Yoos was the hands down choice for Rookie of the Year. She burst on to the scene with a .367 BA, 44 Hits, 3 HR, and 33 RBI. However, the best stat to characterize her impact was her .519 OBP, which led the conference. Yoos did it all for the Hawks in 2013 and she will be a big part of their success moving forward.
 |
| Patti Maloney (Thom Kendall) |
The Atlantic 10 Tournament was all about taking care of business and that's exactly what Fordham did as soon as they stepped on to the field. After being denied the title in 2010 in Amherst, it was clear that they were not going to let that happen again. The Rams relied on a solid trio of pitching in the circle with Michele Daubman, Jamie LaBovick, and Patti Maloney and a powerful lineup that produced hits and runs 1-9. Paige Ortiz came away with the Most Outstanding Player award (and was the top offensive force after having a great week), but it was really the entire team that stepped up their efforts en route to the title.
 |
| Paige Ortiz (Thom Kendall) |
After winning in Amherst, Fordham has the misfortune of being sent to Norman, Oklahoma to a brutal regional. The Rams performed well against Arkansas, but came up just short in two games. Fordham ensured its Empire State supremacy by taking down Marist as well.
 |
| Fordham's Seniors (Thom Kendall) |
The Rams were just able to fend off St. Joseph's, which refused to go away after dropping the winner's bracket final against Fordham. St. Joseph's scrapped and clawed their way to Sunday and even forced the winner-take-all game. Liz Mendez was absolutely spectacular for St. Joseph's and if the conference would award MOP to a player from a losing team (note Kristin Schmidt of LSU won WCWS MOP after finishing 3rd), Mendez would win it hands down. She went 3-1 and allowed just 4 ER on 20 hits in 24.1 innings, while striking out 20. She made a name for herself at the A10 Tournament, which makes the snub of her from the Second Team All-Conference and the All-Rookie that more glaring of an omission. She enters the summer as the clear favorite for 2014 Pitcher of the Year.
 |
| Liz Mendez (Thom Kendall) |
The breakout star of the tournament may have been Liz Mendez, but Brianna Lore came in a close second. The lefty was outstanding in Amherst and she came very close to getting the Billikens to Sunday. Lore has an incredibly bright future and she will be one to watch next year.
In the past nine years, only UMass and Fordham have won the Atlantic 10 Tournament, so it will be interesting to see if one of them can win it again in 2014. It is important to peak during the postseason and the Rams did just that this year.
To wrap up the season further and look towards next year, here are some of the posts we have coming up
Why transfer to the A10?
Taking the conference tournament to the next level
Parting is such sweet sorrow: saying goodbye to Temple, Charlotte, and Butler
We welcome feedback any other news whether it be recruiting/scheduling/transfer/thoughts on the conference tournament or anything else. Please email us at atlantic10softball@gmail.com
I'd have mentioned Fordham's Jamie LaBovick's 28 game record hitting streak as a major accomplishment this season.
ReplyDeleteGreat synopsis of year! It was definitely exciting with 8 teams in the running, plus the teams that weren't in it were beating or giving a tough time to the other 8 at end of season(URI,Bonnies,etc.) What you said about it being who was peaking at end of year is so true.
ReplyDeleteNext year should be exciting again, with solid upperclassmen and some promising new players. Some strong freshmen pitching A10 returning talent in 2013 with All-Rookie team members - Lore and Kneib (St.L), Rico (GW), Froment (Day); with both Mendez (St.J) and Maloney (Ford) coming on strong at end of year in A10 championship and NCAA tourn.
One note/exception... while Yoos is outstanding - must think about Kelsey Dominik as Rookie of year - she hit .302 with 14 HRs, 38 RBI (close, but shy of Yoos .367, 3 HR and 33 RBI) - but Dominik was Temple's #1 pitcher (most important position on field) with a record of 15-8 and a 4.03 ERA (but was definitely much stronger in last month of season down stretch). While both Yoos and Dominik good, in a draft I would pick Dominik over Yoos with both pitching and hitting skills. Just a thought.
Thanks for keeping this site up... excellent!
Congrats to all the players for a great season. I think some mention should be made about Saint Louis - you had picked them to finish 10th pre-season and they actually beat UMass in the final game of the season to make the A10 tourney and finished 5th for the year. And they did it without their #1 pitcher who left after the fall semester & with only 2 freshman pitchers. Laura Bohning, Jess Van Nostrand & Lindsay Friedman had great offensive years and set quite a few new school records. Bri Lore & Laney Kneib stepped up after Austin left & pitched amazingly well, for their first college season. It will be fun to watch them the next 3 years.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck to everyone in 2013-14! And thanks for this site. Hope you can keep it going!
I should also have included Erin Harcar in the post above. She had great stats last season!
ReplyDeleteMake that a 4th place finish for SLU. Even better!
ReplyDelete