Jumbos head west for busy week

Softball players will head to California for spring break, but unlike most other students, they won't be going to rest and relax. The Jumbos will play 12 games over the course of the week, starting this Sunday when they kick off their season at the Sun West Tournament in Orange County.

Tufts will take on a variety of different opponents over the course of the week. The team starts off playing Carleton and then faces off against Elmhurst and St. Catherine among others. The biggest game is saved for last, as Tufts will face rival Williams in the final leg of the trip.

Aside from the obvious rivalry, the Jumbos will be out to defeat the Ephs for another reason. This will be the first time Tufts will get to face its former coach, Kris Herman, who left to be the head coach at Williams after last season.

"The Williams game is going to be huge for us," senior tri-captain Deana Davidian said.

"It's hard not to think about how much we want to beat them," senior Pam Swidler said. "We're all going to be up for the game, but we can't psyche ourselves out either. We've got to stay focused."

Sophomore Laura Spring is one of the players who will be competing for a position on the trip. She and freshman Sarah Taylor are both going to see time at third base over the course of the trip to help coach Milligan determine a regular for the hot corner.

However, Spring is not dwelling on the situation.

"I don't really think about [the third base situation]," Spring said. "My focus is on whatever the team wants me to play to help them win."

The Jumbos also hope to get an idea of who can fill the vacancy at left field over the course of the trip.

"There are a bunch of people who are going to see time at that spot," Swidler said. "I think a lot of people are just going to split the time and we'll see what happens."

In addition to the positional battles, there are a couple of other questions that need to be answered.

"The trip is going to be useful because we'll hopefully get our lineup in order," Davidian said. "We'll also use the trip as a learning experience and hopefully get our freshman adjusted to college softball."

While the Jumbos are facing the daunting task of playing twelve games in a week, Davidian feels the team is deep enough to compete.

"We've got seven pitchers this year, which is a lot, so we should certainly be fresh," she said.

Despite the distractions of being in California during spring break and facing a grueling schedule of numerous double-headers, the team feels focused and ready to play.

"It won't be hard to focus because we all know why we're there," Davidian said. "We have very high goals because of what we've achieved in the past. We want to come out with at least a 7-5 record."

Swidler echoed Davidian's comments.

"I think we've made a lot of progress over the last few weeks, and I think all of us are ready to start playing some games," she said.

Like the rest of the Jumbos, Spring is anticipating a productive trip.

"Everyone's been looking forward to this cause we've been indoors working for the past five weeks," she said.