This Week: Notre Dame College softball begins the 2023 campaign with another trip to the Blue Bridge Battle, hosted by Kentucky Wesleyan College. This season, due to field construction at KWC, the games will be played in Evansville, Ind. On Friday, the Falcons will play Cedarville University, at 3 p.m., and Kentucky Wesleyan, at 5 p.m. On Feb. 25, Notre Dame will battle Ashland University, at 11 a.m., and Quincy University, at 1 p.m.
Records: Last season, NDC went 20-28, overall, with a 13-17 record in the Mountain East Conference. To start this season, Cedarville went 1-3 at the Music City Invitational, in Smyrna, Tenn. Kentucky Wesleyan is 2-8 so far after competing in both the Charger Chillout and the Music City Invitational. Ashland also went 1-3 at the Music City Invitational and Quincy went 1-5 at the Emporia State Classic, last weekend.
Coaches Corner: Kelsey Stopp enters her fifth season as head coach at Notre Dame, leading the team to a record of 61-93, while going 37-57 against MEC competition. Kelsey Chapman begins her second season as head coach after guiding Cedarville to a 24-19 record last year, on an interim basis. Miles Mallette is in his 18th season at Kentucky Wesleyan. Emlyn Knerem is now in her sixth season in the dugout at Ashland with a record of 88-110. Cathy Monroe is at the helm of the Quincy program.
Rankings: None of these teams are ranked in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) top 25 poll.
Series History: NDC has put together a record of 1-5 against Cedarville, with the first meeting in 2014. Since first playing Ashland in 2013, the Falcons have gone 2-8 versus the Eagles. NDC has a 2-2 record against Quincy since 2013 and they have never played Kentucky Wesleyan.
Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame enters the 2023 season looking to improve for the second consecutive season. In 2021, softball came back after a canceled 2020 campaign and finished with 17 wins, but also went on a short run during the MEC Tournament and defeated Concord and Fairmont State. Last season, the Falcons improved their overall record by three wins and were victorious in 10 home games.
NDC will need other players to take over the left side of the infield as 2022 Second Team All-MEC members
Daniele Rivera (shortstop) and
Lexi Rehm (third base) both graduated. The Falcons do return centerfielder
Alexi Maciejowski, who became the first player from NDC since 2015 to take home both All-MEC First Team and All-Region honors. She became the first player in program history to be named Academic All-District. Maciejowski and left fielder
Emma Gumont both hit over .330, with at least 50 hits and at least 83 total bases. They both return.
Katelyn DeWeese (.329) and
Emily Marsh (.301) both hit over .300 last season, while Marsh also hit 14 doubles.
Madison Olszewski and
Allison Weilnau combined to pitch over 200 innings last season, combined for 10 complete games and 102 strikeouts. They will both be in the rotation this season.
Noting the Yellow Jackets: In Cedarville's four games this season, Dana Bertke is hitting .333, which leads the team, with a double and an RBI. Her sister, Casey Bertke started two of the games in the pitcher's circle and appeared in three. She has thrown 15 innings, struck out 10 batters and tallied two complete games.
Noting the Panthers: Megan Matheis and Augusta Garr have both played all 10 games for Kentucky Wesleyan. Mathies is hitting .469 with an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) over 1.300 and three homers, while Garr holds an average of .406. They have combined for 28 hits. Sarah Linville also has an OPS over 1.000 so far. In the team's first 10 games, KWC has already hit seven home runs. The pitching has been a struggle, with a team earned run average (ERA) over 10. They have allowed 109 runs.
Noting the Eagles: Haylee Frost, Hailey Struckman, Hailey Krinn and Lily Rockwell are all hitting over .360 at the plate for Ashland. The AU pitching has been strong, posting a team ERA of 4.58, which includes Kayla Ruperto, who has a 1.40 ERA through five innings.
Noting the Hawks: Mykah Hurley is hitting .421 in 19 at bats, and has stolen three bases over six games for Quincy. Taylor Downen (.333), Brooklynn Fischer (.333) and Ashley Gerber (.316) are all hitting over .300. Fischer has also pitched 18 1/3 innings, posting a 5.35 ERA and striking out 11 hitters.
