Rewind to March 24 of this year. The Bowdoin Women's Softball Team had just finished its 16-game trip to Florida with a disappointing 5-11 record weighing on its players' shoulders. The team lacked the confidence and maturity to compete with opponents. Now fast forward to April 12 to see a team with a new formula for winning games.
Maybe it was the transition from warm to cold weather that heated up the Polar Bears or maybe it was just the emergence of a very strong and capable first-year class. It is never an easy task for a team to take first-year starters and compete fiercely every game, but the Bears have managed to do both with great success, welcoming seven new players to the team.
These "magnificent seven" have responded fantastically to the challenge, especially Karen Reni '09, who leads the team in wins, ERA, and innings pitched, and Alison Coleman '09, who owns the joint lead for home runs on the squad.
The Bears brought their recent streak of success, five wins in their last eight games, to Wednesday's doubleheader against Colby. The two rivals battled hard and split a tough NESCAC series with Colby taking the first game 1-0 on a moonshot in the fourth inning.
The Bears responded in the second game with great offensive strength as they finally found a way to score on Colby's Lauren Olmstead who shut them out in the first game. Veteran leaders Danielle Chagnon '06, Jayme Woogerd '07 and Brittany Ogden '08 as well as Coleman, accounted for all of Bowdoin's runs, which reignited the Bears' hopes for a successful season.
The team faces Trinity this weekend at home in a doubleheader that starts at 11:00 a.m. The Bears hope to play their best against upcoming NESCAC opponents as they try to finish their season on a strong note in an effort to make it to the post-season play.