Lady Braves softball takes the field:
Setting goals a team responsibility

By Brad Ciociola
Staff Writer

With spring almost upon us, the Lady Braves softball team has taken the field for the 2004 season. One month into the season, the squad is off to an 13-14 start.

Head coach Steve Johnson says that he lets the team set their own goals.

“They want to break the school record of 15 wins during the PBC era,” Johnson said. “They also want to finish in the top half of the PBC standings.”

The Lady Braves were two and 15 in the PBC last season and are currently 0 and 4 in conference play.

“With this league, it’s the premiere conference in the country,” Johnson said. “The team will have to elevate their mental game to a level they’ve never had before.”

Johnson believes this can be done if they can increase their speed and improve their pitching; two things the Lady Braves have been able to do so far. Also, with eight newcomers and eight returning players, getting the team to work together is important.

“The hard thing is mixing in eight new players and getting them to play together,” said Johnson.
Johnson believes important factors for the Lady Braves’ success this year will be great pitching and solid defense, “but the key for us to win this year is good hitting to support the pitching. We have to string the hits together,” he said.

One Lady Brave had no problem doing that in a double-header at Queens University Feb. 22.

Sophomore Brookes Musser went 4-4 with two doubles, a homerun and 3 RBI in a 10-2 win in game one. In the nightcap she hit a game winning grand slam in the 10th inning to lead the Lady Braves to 9-5 victory over the Lady Royals. Musser was rewarded for her outstanding day when she was named PBC Player of the Week.

Musser said of the grand slam, “It came at the perfect time, we work on that swing all season, so we put it to use.”

Of her plate vision: “I was picking the ball up a lot better, I felt really confident every time I went up to bat.”

When it came to the Player of the Week honors Musser had a harder time finding words, “I was really surprised, but it felt good.”

Musser is only the second Lady Brave to receive PBC Player of the Week honors, the first since 1998.