Club softball is in the midst of one of its most successful seasons so far, standing at 6-0 after its first two series. In the club’s last three-game series against Loyola University-Chicago, Marquette won by a combined score of 47-2.
Junior Vice President Callie Troufetter sees the team’s depth as one of its greatest strengths.
“We can put really anyone anywhere,” Troutfetter said. “We’ve played with random lineups, putting people where they’ve never played before, and nothing has ever cost us from it. Everyone’s got a great attitude and loves the sport.”
Following a solid 12-3 season last year, Marquette is on pace to surpass that mark. Junior president Erin Wilson believes this team’s pitching talent far surpasses that of previous seasons.
“We have three or four pitchers this year. Usually we have, like, one-ish,” Wilson said. “They’re all good pitchers, so going into the season, I knew it was going to be a really good season because we were several players deep at each position.”
The two team leaders raved most about Megan Socha, a freshman from Minnetonka, Minnesota. The team has won all three of her starts.
“Megan’s an awesome pitcher and she was one of the most surprising ones because she was so quiet and serious in the beginning,” Wilson said. “But now she’s more comfortable because she’s really proven that she’s a great player”
Socha was admittedly intimidated at first, playing against girls a few years older, but was able to settle in quickly.
“The first game I felt more comfortable, just because a lot of the girls are very encouraging,” Socha said. “I’ll be pitching and they’ll be cheering for me and you kind of feel like part of the team and feel like you can be a leader, and step up with their guidance.”
Troutfetter, another of the club’s pitchers, sees this team’s toughness as a factor for its success so far.
“Everyone’s more out for the kill this year,” she said. “There’s more cutthroat competitors on the team.”
One of the players that Wilson, Troutfetter and Socha all mentioned as having a great year is sophomore Allie Arnston. The slugger hit three home runs in their last series against Loyola, blowing both the ball and her teammates away.
“Allie just proves time and time again that she really deserves to be in the core of the batting lineup,” Wilson said. “She hit three home runs, and they weren’t just like regular home runs, they were way gone.”
Arnston, though, credited her strong play to the bond she has with her teammates. She says the atmosphere on the field and in the dugout are what makes her feel comfortable at the plate.
“We’re just a really close-knit group of girls,”Arnston said. “We became really close really fast, and the dynamic is just great on the field.”
Marquette will need to have all of those pieces working when it hosts a series with University of Wisconsin-Whitewater at Wilson Park beginning Nov. 7. Both teams are currently 6-0, and knotted in a three-way tie with UW-Madison in the National Club Softball Association’s Great Lakes-West Division.
