By Jack Perdek

Getting back to optimal performance has been the main premise of the 2022 Oswego State softball team in their early season.

The Lakers are coming off an 8-14 overall record from last spring and now aim to improve it this season now with nearly twice the amount of games to play. The previous season they only took the field 21 times, today they have 39 matches on the schedule and a roster that has been a work in progress over the past two years.

Oswego State softball head coach Gabrielle Rivers joined the team in 2019 and has an unique perspective on the group she started with at Oswego State. Her team went on a Florida road trip similar to the baseball team and she says that the experience gained there is going to help the team going into conference opponents this weekend. 

“I think Florida and the non-conference games we just had prepared us for the upcoming weekend,” Rivers said. “They are prepared and ready to go for Fredonia and Buffalo State, they know what they can do and they have been improving each game going forward.”

The Lakers went 1-6 on the trip but the team was pleased with junior pitcher Fiona Higgins’s performances, especially against Defiance College. Higgins was on a tear against the Yellow Jackets, pitching a no-hitter with some great defense from her teammates. Higgins was later announced as the SUNYAC Pitcher of the Week for her performance for the week of March 28. Higgins is humbled to have received the award and credited her team.

“I’m very grateful for this award,” Higgins said. “I worked really hard and I am glad that my hard work is finally paying off.”

Part of receiving the award was due to her stellar performance in Florida. Against Defiance College she pitched 10 strikeouts in a total of seven innings helping the Lakers win three to nothing. From Higgins’s perspective, her performance that day was a mind game and an overall well-communicated effort from her team.

“Through that game I was just trying to keep my cool and control,” Higgins said. “I’m thankful for my teammates playing great defense and I would not have been able to do that without them.”

Rivers also shared her thoughts on Higgins’s performance, saying that her process to be where she is now has been a product in the making.

“She’s definitely worked very hard through the fall season and on her own during the winter to have her skill pay off now,”  Rivers said. “It’s definitely showing on the field.”

Another member of the team recognized the skill and endurance Higgins showed in that game, and the first 11 games so far. Senior catcher Zoe Mennig has been working closely with Higgins on the field as she has been her catcher for a large majority of the season. Mennig and Higgins have been able to find chemistry they feel will be able to create problems in the SUNYAC conference. 

“She’s been doing awesome compared to last year, I have even seen a huge difference already,” Mennig said. “Much more confident too, it definitely shows. I just know the other SUNYAC teams have seen her but I don’t think they’re ready for how much she has improved.”

Higgins, who has helped the Lakers have the third-most strikeouts in the SUNYAC conference, was able to speak about her relationship with Mennig on the field. Higgins credited their success to their cohesiveness on the field and the way they are able to stay aligned mentally. 

“We have a very good dynamic, I always feel we’re on the same page,” Higgins said. “We think alike, we have a pitching sequence where we’re on the same page with similar pitches.”

Pitching for Oswego State has been a positive sign for success in the eyes of Rivers. It is easy to overcome adversity in a softball game when you have multiple pitchers that can get it done game in and game out. The Lakers have multiple pitchers such as Fiona Higgins, Madison Hoeflich and freshman Maria Lutz who have all tallied a combined 62 innings pitched. Rivers is relieved to have depth on the mound and a repertoire of pitchers to choose from.

“We’re definitely blessed to have as many pitchers as we do,” Rivers said. “I think it kind of relaxes our pitchers a little bit more. Our defense plays great behind them, so it’s been nice having a deep bullpen and it relieves a lot of pressure in pressure situations.”

Having depth on pitching and defense is helpful, especially when one of the team’s best hitters is reviving her stats from last year. Mennig when she is not positioned at catcher can usually be found on the plate as a priority rotation hitter for the Lakers. At a .387 batting average, 12 hits, four RBIs and one homerun, she is on pace to surpass her 2021 season.

According to Mennig, the numbers are one thing, but the confidence to keep a present mindset as a hitter is more beneficial.

“I have to remind myself that numbers don’t really matter, I have to do my part for the team just moving people around the bases,” Mennig said. “As long as I’m getting good hits, they don’t have to be out of the park or anything, I just need to do my job, if I do look at the numbers that’s great but  it doesn’t really matter.” 

As a collective unit, this Oswego State team seems to have found a strong sense of chemistry in their dugout. Despite having a shortened season in 2021, Mennig feels that the time she gets to spend making relationships this year opposed to last season’s restrictions is a huge positive for the team.

“Our junior class didn’t get their first season technically so we didn’t have much bonding time,” Mennig said. “But over last year and this year everyone’s gotten a lot closer and the chemistry has mended very quickly.”

 The Lakers will play 18 of their last 24 ball games against SUNYAC opponents which Rivers thinks the team is well prepared for. Despite their record from the Florida trip, the best pitcher in the SUNYAC for the past week has a good feeling that the team is better than the numbers and that this group has what it takes to be successful.

“We know the potential we have and we know how well we can do,” Higgins said “Looking at our record and theirs [SUNYAC] we know we’re a better team than our record has shown.”

Photo provided by Oswego State Athletics