Spring sports season comes to a close

The coming of May brings two things to college campuses: the end of another school year and the end of the college sports season. Two of Fredonia State's sports teams have ended their spring season while another still has a postseason engagement to attend to. It's now time to take a look back at how the Blue Devils spring teams performed over the past two months.

Women's Lacrosse

Record: 12-5 (4-4 SUNYAC, fifth place)

MVP: Junior attack Amy Simon (48 goals, 20 assists, 68 points)

The Blue Devils started their season off at a record-breaking pace by winning their first seven contests of 2011, a new school standard. Included in that streak was their division championship during their annual trip to the Spring Fling Tournament held during Spring Break in Florida. Another outstanding Blue Devil feat was junior Amy Simon breaking both the career goals and career points records, set by Kelly Domm in the program's first years.

The early season success was certainly unprecedented as the Blue Devils' roster consists of just six juniors and seniors. Despite being young, Fredonia State possessed the strength to score goals seemingly at will. The Blue Devils won six of their first seven games by at least eight goals, no easy task for any team.

When SUNYAC competition opened up on April 2, Fredonia State made relatively easy work of New Paltz, winning 18-7. From that point on, the Blue Devils found themselves in tightly contested games each time they stepped on the field. The Blue Devils' greatest struggle this season was closing out opponents in close games. Against nationally ranked Geneseo, Fredonia State found themselves holding an early 7-0 lead over the Knights. Geneseo fought right back and kept the Blue Devils to a single goal in the second half to take an 11-9 victory. Losses to Geneseo, Buffalo State and Brockport by a total of five goals made the difference between being in the postseason or on the outside looking in.

The team is young but it can be counted on that they learned a lot as a group through the season's ups and downs. With Laura Culhane being the only departing senior, the Blue Devils will have a near identical look and will know what it's going to take to win together. They broke the school record for wins in a season with 12; who knows what's next.

Baseball

Record: 17-18 (5-13 SUNYAC, sixth place)

MVP: Senior outfielder Jon Messina (.344 batting average, 43 hits, 19 RBI, .472 slugging percentage)

The 2011 Blue Devil baseball team shared two key similarities with the 2010 squad. For one, they had no problem taking care of teams outside of the conference. Second, when it came to SUNYAC competition, they struggled and struggled mightily.

The annual spring break trip to Florida proved successful for Fredonia State, as they went 8-3 against teams from various corners of the country. The offense was churning and the pitching staff was potent in the sunshine state but the trip back north saw a drop in performance. The Blue Devils promptly lost four straight games, three of which came against conference rival Oneonta and one against Utica College, who had not won a game this spring until their victory over Fredonia State.

The Blue Devils never found their rhythm this spring, as they went 14-18 and won only two conference games all season. The offense went flat down the stretch and the pitchers gave up runs in bunches.

There were, however, some nice surprises that came out of this team. Seniors Jon Messina and Taylor Gahagen picked up the offensive slack left by 2010 seniors Rob Herrmann and Don Kirsch. Messina was second on the team in batting average and RBI to Gahagen. For the year Gahagen hit .349 with 20 RBI and a .450 slugging percentage. Freshman Steve Sturm showed promise in his first collegiate season, going 1-0 with a complete game to his credit. Sturm stymied opposing batters all season, who hit just .245 against him.

A season that started with a lot of promise turned into a season where playoff dreams were diminished midway through April. It was a disappointing ending to the team's significant amount of seniors; now it's time for the younger players to restore the team to its dominant form from 2009.

Softball

Record: 25-7 (13-5 SUNYAC, third place)

MVP: Sophomore pitcher Raela Wiley (5-0 in 11 appearances, 0.00 ERA)

The Fredonia State Blue Devils softball team was the biggest surprise of any team this spring. Ranked eighth in the SUNYAC preseason coaches' poll, not much was expected from head coach Lorrie Corsi's crew.

Their 12-2 stand in Florida caught the eyes of many people and quickly improved their record to 18-2. This start included a 6-0 opening to SUNYAC play, their best conference start in team history. The offense was hitting and driving in runs at a high rate, the base runners created havoc on the base paths and the pitchers were lights out from day one. Their success this season guaranteed them the No. 3 spot in the SUNYAC tournament, their first playoff appearance since 2004.

Sophomore Katie Bartkowiak led the team's offense once again and broke her own single-season for hits in a season with 51. In the circle, junior Ashley LaPorta dominated her opponents, pitching to a 2.38 ERA and tossing her second career no-hitter on April 16 against Potsdam. Sophomore Alyssa Brognano, a transfer from St. John's University, dominated in her first season as a Blue Devil. Brognano went 8-1 with a slim ERA of 1.31 while opponents batted .233 against her. Out of the bullpen, sophomore Raela Wiley was perfect in the ERA department. In 11 appearances, Wiley went 5-0 while opponents batted a mere .172 against her. In those 11 appearances, she never gave up an earned run and kept opposing hitters off balance.

The playoffs are on the horizon and the Blue Devils will look to raise the volume even higher as they attempt to bring home their first SUNYAC championship.