When the 2006 softball season got underway, one question hung heavy over Spicer Field: could the Jumbos continue their national and regional dominance in the manner of the 2005 squad, which rocked opposing teams with a deadly middle of the lineup and overwhelming power hitting.
It turned out they couldn't.
But they found another way.
The 2006 Jumbos replaced the monster bats of last year's squad, which led all Div. III teams in home runs, with quieter but more reliable ones. In doing so, this spring's squad returned to the national spotlight with a pair of NCAA Tournament wins in the program's eighth national appearance and first since 2003.
"This was a huge year for us," senior co-captain Sarah Conroy said. "It was great for everyone who hadn't been to NCAAs before. They'll go into next year with so much more confidence, having that big-game experience."
While two one-run losses to Williams left Tufts just short of a NESCAC title, this new brand of small ball put the Jumbos on top of most offensive statistics in the league and changed the way Tufts softball wins games.
The Jumbos finished at 28-16 (9-1 NESCAC East) and spent much of the season in the top 20, peaking at No. 13, courtesy of an 11-game win streak after returning from a spring break trip to the Sun West Tournament in California.
The team had a league-best and decade-high .318 team batting average and hammered 363 hits and 494 total bases - something even the 2005 squad hadn't been able to do - and did it the hard way, connecting on solid base hits and beating the throw to first. The Jumbos had significantly fewer home runs than last year's team, but knocked a league-leading 281 singles.
"Up and down the lineup, we had a different attack this year," coach Cheryl Milligan said. "A lot of times, we could really have used a home run, but we knew it would be different. Speed never takes vacation; bats do."
That speed came in the form of a few freshmen that added a new weapon to the Jumbo lineup. Leadoff hitter Laura Chapman batted .338 and had a NESCAC-high 12 stolen bases. Classmates Alison Drobiarz and Roni Herbst joined Chapman as slappers, and their ability to beat out throws to first allowed them to capitalize on infield grounders.
"It was awesome to go into games and have other teams say 'Wow, where did this speed come from?'" Conroy said.
The middle of the Tufts lineup knocked these burners home, led by sophomore Danielle Lopez's .383 average. Her 54 hits, 48 RBI, 99 total bases, and 43 runs scored all set new Tufts records, and her 11 home runs kept some long-ball power in the Jumbo lineup. Lopez was named the NESCAC Player of the Year. Freshman Cara Hovhanessian batted .336 at the cleanup spot with 41 hits and 35 RBI, both second to Lopez on the team.
The Jumbos needed every one of those hits; while mercy-rule wins were the norm last season, this year's Jumbos held onto slim late-game leads and several times came back from big deficits. In an elimination game of the NESCAC Tournament, they recovered from an 8-0 deficit to beat Trinity 13-8 and advance to the title game, and they nearly repeated that feat in a 6-5 failed comeback to Rowan in the NCAA Regional consolation final.
"We came back a couple times, and they were all singles, small hits that got us there," Conroy said. "That's a huge credit to these kids - yes, home runs are exciting, but you can still get job done without them. It's good for hitters to realize that they don't need to swing for the fences. Once we started doing that, it all came together."
The Jumbos rolled through a relatively weak NESCAC East, despite a fluke loss to Colby in the regular season's final weekend, and clinched the top division spot for the second straight year.
An early-season sweep over two-time defending champion Williams made a NESCAC pennant, something only the seniors had ever achieved, look possible. But the Jumbos came up short again, as the Ephs claimed their third NESCAC title, although the 1-0, 6-5 losses were a very different story from the one-hitter and no-hitter that ended the 2005 season.
After Tufts won the first three NESCAC titles from 2000 to 2003, coach Kris Herman made the move to Williamstown, and has brought the last three home for the Ephs and fueled one of the league's best rivalries.
"It's always hard to lose to Williams, even harder than missing the NESCAC title," senior co-captain Jess Barrett said. "We've always been big rivals with Williams, and ever since the coaching change it's been even more passionate."
Defensively, the Jumbos were solid at key positions and grew stronger at others as the season progressed, finishing with a NESCAC- best .957 fielding percentage.
"Every time we made mistakes we came back and picked each other up" Barrett said. "Right up through the last game, we worked hard to come back from mistakes or rough innings."
Junior Annie Ross and freshmen Maya Ripecky were perfect in the outfield. At second, Lopez sported a .972 fielding percentage, anchoring a middle infield that recorded a league-high (and sixth-best in the nation) 40 double plays. Sophomore catcher Megan Cusick came up with one huge pickoff after another to get the Jumbos out of tough field positions, and her 12 pickoffs and nine runners caught stealing were best in the league.
"I can't tell you how frustrating it is as a pitcher to walk a leadoff batter, and then how motivating it is when your field gets them out," Conroy said. "To have Q throw them out at second, or someone turn a double play is so relieving. Our defense has come full circle, and we took way more pride in that after California."
While the youth of the Tufts roster was its defining characteristic - 13 of the team's 20 players were freshmen and sophomores - equally important was the senior leadership that steadied the Jumbo ship and eased underclassmen into their new roles.
"Reaching what you would call potential is not just a pure equation of getting talented players in position," Milligan said. "It's more than just putting talented players out there; it's about creating a team concept. And we had leaders that gave up the spotlight so the team could achieve."
Co-captains Conroy and Barrett were put in the tough position of corralling an inexperienced and somewhat unpredictable freshman class, and doing so from what were not the easiest positions. As a pitcher, Conroy was not always an on-field presence, and Barrett played in 18 of the team's 42 games in right field.
"It took a lot of hard work from everyone on the team to achieve the success that we did," Barrett said. "The younger players had to understand that they would play an integral role on the team and that a lot was expected of them, and the older players had to accept their role on the team and provide support for the younger players when they needed it. It's always hard keeping 20 people focused, but it helps when they all want the same thing."
"Our captains did an excellent job of controlling a young team and really making us see the bigger picture," Lopez said. "It was difficult for them to take on eight freshmen and five sophomores that make up the majority of the lineup, and they really carried our team.
"This season gave us a taste of what we can have and what we can get," Lopez continued. "The seniors had already been [to NCAAs], and now the rest of us have been there once. We know what it's like - we want to be there, we want to beat Williams. Now it's tangible."
