Fielding one of its youngest teams in years, the Mary Washington College softball team had just two upperclassmen on its roster a year ago. Both players, senior pitcher/outfielder Jenny Adams and junior catcher Janet Oldis, were selected as All-Conference.
The Eagles were led offensively by Oldis, who rapped out a team-high 29 hits, and added five doubles and a team-high 19 runs scored. Sophomore Stephanie Barnhouse led the squad in hitting, with a .297 average in 27 games. Barnhouse also led all MWC players with five stolen bases. Shortstop Andrea Waterston led MWC with a .439 slugging percentage, contributing a team-high eleven doubles, three triples, and one home run, while freshman first baseman Kate Morrison came on strong at the end of the season, batting .342 over the last 23 games to finish at .250, while playing a stellar defensive first base (.981 fielding).
Third baseman Melanie Gladden helped the Eagles improve their fielding, and also batted .244 with a team-high eleven doubles while being one of two players to start all 40 games. The other was second baseman/outfielder Melyssa Sheeran, who ripped five doubles and yielded a .908 fielding average.
Once again playing one of the toughest nonconference schedules in the nation, the Eagles thrived in Capital Athletic Conference play, winning six of eight regular season games before advancing to the CAC title game in the annual postseason tournament for the eighth year in a row. The Eagles faced a tough York PA team in the conference semifinals, and downed the Spartans by a 13-5 score, pounding out a season-high 19 hits and 13 runs, led by Melanie Gladden's four hits and two RBI. Sheeran, Oldis, and pitcher/infielder Ashley Beck each added three hits in the victory. Although they lost to eventual NCAA World Series-bound Salisbury State University in the finals, the Eagles further laid the foundation for success in 1999 by playing quality opponents like Salisbury, and the College of New Jersey.
With experience playing against some of the top teams in the nation and several top recruits pushing the veterans for playing time, MWC will look to raise the bar once more in 1999.