The softball team ended the season with back-to-back wins, but it was little solace after the Judges finished with a dismal 8-27 record overall, including a 1-7 record in the UAA conference. With no seniors on the team, the Judges will return next season with the same roster, something they hope will leave them with an advantage over their rivals and a season of shared experiences to reflect upon.

"The season didn't go as I had expected it to," Coach Mary Sullivan said. "We didn't get any breaks at all, we made a lot of errors and things just didn't go our way."

The Judges faced an upward climb all season after losing seven of their first eight games during the season-opening UAA championships in Florida. The team produced only 13 runs in the tournament, foreshadowing their scoring problems that would plague them the entire season.

"[The 0-7 start] definitely made us lose a little confidence," pitcher and first baseman Kaitlin Streilein '08 said. "It's hard to go to Florida and lose seven games in a row but we were also in every game so I think it helped everyone to know that we could compete with the best teams we saw all season."

While their record was sub-par, players insist that it did not reflect their play. Late-inning errors and close defeats characterized a season full of bad luck.

Perhaps most indicative of the team's tendency to suffer late-game hiccups was a 1-0 home loss to Simmons College on March 31. Two errors on one play allowed an unearned run in the sixth inning, spoiling a fine pitching performance from Natalie Volpe '08.

"We had an awful lot of one-run losses and we just couldn't catch a break all season," Sullivan said. "A lot of times the errors that we made cost us games. We couldn't make an error and get away with it and that really came down on us hard."

A young team consisting of eight first-years, four sophomores and just three juniors, the Judges looked to their rookies to step up early and fill large holes in the lineup.

The team had struggled in 2004, especially on the mound, and while bringing in fresh arms such as Volpe and Danielle Mayer '08 gave the Judges more pitching depth, which sometimes translated into wins, it was often not enough to overcome their better-hitting opponents.

In a home game against Bay Path College on April 12, Volpe struck out 10 batters and ended the contest in five short innings as she threw a perfect game in an 8-0 Brandeis victory. One week earlier, Mayer gave up only four hits in more than seven innings against the University of Massachusetts at Boston and led the Judges in a 4-0 win in snapping a six-game losing streak.

"The pitchers all did a great job on the mound," Sullivan said. "It really helped to have new pitchers come in and it took a lot of pressure off knowing that we had three or four people who could do a good job on the mound. I don't think the [first-years] were any different from the older players and I think the younger players did their jobs."

In looking toward a more successful 2006 season, players highlight the need to avoid errors and other mistakes as the key to their success.

"We need to work on making fewer mental mistakes," Streilein said. "We need to keep our head in the game every game and keep believing that we can win. It's hard when you constantly lose games, so I think we need to win a few more games in the beginning of the season next year."

Despite the tough start, the team saw a marginal improvement throughout the season.

The team showed signs for hope in its last two games of the season, both 10-run victories in a doubleheader against Newbury College at home on April 28. In addition, four players were selected to the All-UAA team and will look produce higher numbers with more wins next season.

Outfielder Jenna Olem '08 was selected to the first team, while third baseman Elissa Glucksman '06, catcher and team captain Mari Levine '06 and first baseman Bri Smith '06 were all named to the second team.

"We struggled pretty badly at first in Florida but we really developed as team during the season," Christina McWilliams '07 said. "We came together game-to-game so much throughout, which was really impressive."

But the Judges will need more than just come together as a team to have a better season next year.

Editors note: Mari Levine '06 is a staff writer for the Justice.