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Dear Alumni, Thank you for all of the support that you showed to both the 2008 team and my coaching staff in our first year here at Adelphi. I know that I saw a great deal of you throughout our season and want to thank you all for appearing as often as you could. For those of you who weren't either freezing in the stands or following the team's progress on the website, here is a quick overview of our record-breaking 41-win season. The year got underway as we boarded a charter bus for a nine-day tour of the Peach Belt Conference in the Carolinas and Georgia. The girls (myself included) were a bit stunned by our less-than-prolific start as we dropped 13 of our first 14 games. The losses provided us with a great deal of insight as to what we needed to work on in order to reach the goals that we had set for ourselves earlier in the year. We hit the cages with a vengeance when we got back to campus and improved our team batting average by over 100 points over our next 10 games. Tenacity paid off as the 2008 Panthers went 36 and 6 to end their regular season as the ECC regular season and tournament runners-up, earning the third-place seed in the Northeast Regional. Senior Dely Francisco and sophomore Katie Brophy hit over .400 in ECC play last season, posting by far the best career numbers to date of any one-two combination in Adelphi's historically successful program. Dely set four single-season records in 2008 in at bats (216), hits (84), runs (51) and her 51 swiped bags this season was enough to edge out 1990 graduate, Doreen Lumbra (81), as the all-time stolen bases leader at Adelphi with a total of 92. Although the offense for the Panthers was arguably the most potent in the ECC, it was the Adelphi's battery headed by senior ace, Julia Schaper that made the difference in tight competition. Schaper was undefeated in ECC play, going a perfect 10-0 and stifling opponents at the plate as they posted a dismal .181 average against her. Her efforts in the circle earned her the first 20-win season of her career and the honor of being named the East Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year. Julia is one of only two pitchers (the other being 1987 graduate Julie Bolduc) at Adelphi to surpass the 500 career-strikeout mark. What makes her accomplishment so special is that Julia did it with only three years of work in the circle as an injury kept her from pitching during her freshman campaign. The 2008 team may have peaked too early as a season that started in disappointment ended the same way. The Panthers were knocked out of regional play early going 1-2 in the tournament, ending their year on a loss to Caldwell, a team who we had swept earlier in regular season play. This year, the 2009 team will build upon last year's successes while learning from where we fell short. We have one common goal in mind, the Division II College World Series and we would love your support in reaching it. With the return of seven starters from 2008 and the addition of key recruits, the Panthers are going to be a force to reckon with in this, their last season as a member of the East Coast Conference and last games on the existing Janet L. Ficke Field. In 2010, Adelphi will be competing in the Northeast-10 Conference and will unveil their new state of the art turf field. The new field will keep its current title as Janet L. Ficke Field. Since the team will be displaced for a year and a half, I wanted to host as many events at home as possible during the fall season. Please mark your calendars for the following dates.
Saturday Sept 20 - Panther Fall Classic Please RSVP for the homecoming event and alumni game at 516-877-3959 or email me a psmith@adelphi.edu to let me know you are planning on attending. I would also like to know who will be playing in the game so that I can plan accordingly. Last year we had a great turnout and this year I expect our numbers to be even higher. Finally, I wanted to thank everyone who showed their support at Janet's golf outing. It was great getting to know all of you and I hope to see you again this fall. Take care, Paige GO PANTHERS! |
