Ready to make some noise in 2nd year

Hutchinson's insertion into ace role will play critical factor for softball team

Friday, March 12, 2010

It was a case of literal rebuilding last year for the College of Southern Maryland Hawks on the softball diamond. The once-proud program resumed play in 2009 after being defunct the previous two seasons.

With a whole new cast of players and a head coach, the Hawks basically started from scratch last spring and constructed an 11-12 record, including a first-round regional playoff win. Laying such groundwork has the CSM outfit believing it can return to contender status this season within the Maryland Junior College Conference and Region XX ranks that perennially characterized the program for the majority of the two decades through 2006, the last time the Hawks fielded a team before a year ago.

Six returners spearhead the Hawks for their 2010 campaign, which began Tuesday by splitting a home doubleheader against Patrick Henry Community College. The Hawks dropped the opening contest, 11-2, before pulling out the nightcap in dramatic form, 8-7, as ace pitcher Cristina Hutchinson (Thomas Stone) escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the seventh inning to save the CSM win.

The Hawks (1-1) were scheduled to open their conference slate Thursday on the road at Dundalk in a doubleheader.

Hutchinson displayed moxie in recording her two-inning save after throwing about 140 pitches in going the distance in Game 1 against an offensive-minded Patrick Henry squad which used a couple of big innings to blow that contest open.

"It was very overwhelming at first. I haven't thrown a whole game in three years, so I just had to clear my head and think of three years ago," said Hutchinson, not a natural pitcher as she played centerfield a year ago for the Hawks.

Hutchinson is replacing the Hawks' only substantial loss from a year ago in Christina Pasquini (Chopticon), who sported a 10-11 mark in 126 1/3 innings with a quality 1.60 earned run average and 157 strikeouts while having limited talent support her.

Though the Hawks have improved their roster since last year, it remains to be seen how effective Hutchinson –– leading a rotation that includes freshman Mazi Tucker (Stone) and perhaps some innings from sophomore catcher Allison Sloan (Stone) –– can be as a No. 1 arm throughout the duration of the season.

"I like [being the ace], I like the responsibility. It's not too, too overwhelming, I know that I have a big role and that I'll overcome it," Hutchinson said. "I can not match [what Pasquini did last year]. She throws a whole lot faster than I can. She has a lot more experience than I have at the college level. So no, I cannot match her."

"I think that Hutch is a solid pitcher," sophomore Brooke Martin (La Plata) added about her ace, who went 1-1 last year in only 17 1/3 innings of work with a 4.44 ERA and 15 strikeouts. "Regardless of your pitcher, it takes all 14 of us [on the roster] actually to win every ballgame. And anything that we win is going to be because we do it 14 deep. Hutch has a very, very important role, and she does well on the mound. But I do think that ballgames are won as a whole."

"Hutch has worked very hard through this whole winter to get stronger," Hawks head coach Mike Garner said. "She brings a great mentality to the game, and she's going to keep us in some games this year.

"As a team, [the pitcher position] is the only experience that we lack."

Do not mistake Hutchinson's self-disclosure in the ace role for lacking confidence in what her team can accomplish this season.

"I think we can really be better than last year," she said. "We have a lot of talent. It's very different than last year. We'll have a lot of wins this year I'm hoping. I think we can [get the program back to its contender status of last decade] if we keep our heads in the game."

"It shows a lot about the maturity on this team," Martin noted about how the Hawks rebounded in victorious form from a Game 1 drubbing Tuesday. "We could've put our heads down as soon as we lost the first game, 11-2. For us to come back and completely forget about that game and realize we had another seven innings to do, it shows a lot –– and this team is fairly young.

"Our team camaraderie is better this year. Defensively and offensively, there are not as many holes as there were last year."

Among the new faces strengthening the Hawks is freshman left fielder Katie Love (St. Mary's Ryken), who sparkled defensively in Game 1 with two diving catches and then contributed to Game 2's five-run first inning with an RBI single and run scored.

The Hawks lost their early 5-0 lead in Game 2, as Patrick Henry knotted the score at 6 in the fourth and then at 7 in the fifth. But the big start played a major role in the Hawks eventually securing the win in the bottom of the fifth when Joselynn Stewart (Great Mills) stroked the deciding RBI single to plate Shelby Matullo (Northern).

dcogle@somdnews.com

CSM softball

Head coach: Mike Garner (second year)

Last year: 11-12 (seventh in MD JUCO)

Athletes to watch: P/OF/1B Cristina Hutchinson (So., Thomas Stone), U Brooke Martin (So., La Plata), P/1B Mazi Tucker (So., Stone), C/P Allison Sloan (So., Stone), 3B Megan Sturman (So., Westlake), SS Kim Leatherman (So., Lackey), CF Brittany DiMichelle (Fr., Northern), 2B/OF Joselynn Stewart (Fr., Great Mills), LF Katie Love (Fr., St. Mary's Ryken)

Key personnel loss: P Christina Pasquini (Chopticon)

Strengths: Garner has the luxury of versatility on his roster with players that can perform in multiple positions for what is a deeper Hawks team, complete with role players in sophomore Helene Aulisio (Huntingtown) and freshmen Shelby Matullo (Northern), Brienna Barnes (Stone) and Paige Sowder (La Plata). Also, Martin will look to build off leading the team in hitting a year ago when she sported .366 average.

Weaknesses: Replacing the major loss of Pasquini as the ace pitcher will not be an easy endeavor. Hutchinson has progressed well throughout the offseason to prepare for the job – displaying the needed confidence in the process – but she is not a natural pitcher like Pasquini. Like her young team on the whole, Hutchinson also lacks the big-game experience that Pasquini brought to the mound.

Dallas Cogle