Softball Team Finishes Season With 20 Wins

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The Centenary College Cyclones softball team finished the 2013 season with a record of 20-14, marking their fifth consecutive season with at least 20 wins as well as a fifth straight Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) appearance.  This season head coach Kim Broking, who has been at the helm for each of the previous five seasons, also led the team to its first Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) tournament appearance since 2009.

Without the luxury of playing non-conference games in warmer weather, the two-time defending CSAC champions were forced to open up this season with six straight conference games.  Although less than ideal, the tough start did little to curtail the Cyclones in their opening two games as they defeated Cedar Crest College 13-1 in five innings in game one and followed it up with a 3-1 victory in game two to start the season off 2-0.

After rain wiped out a non-conference match up with Muhlenberg College, Centenary continued with its CSAC-heavy schedule and dropped a pair of one-run games to Immaculata (2-1 and 8-7) before falling to the eventual-CSAC champion Neumann Knights 6-5 and 3-1 to drop their record to 2-4.

“Those were some tough games for us to lose,” Broking said.  “Losing is never fun but to lose one-run games against conference teams—they sting a bit more.”

Following the rocky start the Cyclones would go on to win three of their next four games and end March on a high note. After splitting a series with fellow Garden State institution Fairleigh Dickinson University, Centenary would sweep a pair from CSAC-foe Marywood by the score of 8-0 and 3-2 to end the month with a .500 record.

The hot streak the Cyclones went on during the end of March did not carry over into April unfortunately, as Centenary dropped their first four games of the month. The Cyclones were downed by Moravian College and then fell to the No.22 team in the country, Rowan University to put them at 5-9.

With the season half way through, the Cyclones would need a strong second half surge if they were going to make something of the 2013 campaign.  On April 5 the Cyclones welcomed Rosemont to Legion Field; and in those two games, Centenary turned the around the fate of their season with strong 11-1 and 11-3 victories respectfully.  Centenary’s all-everything catcher Cara Montferrat added to her storied career by becoming the college’s all-time leader in both homeruns and doubles during the two games, going five-for-six with three RBIs.

“I was very happy to get back on the winning track with those victories,” Broking said.  “I was also proud to see Cara achieve those milestones. She works hard and deserved every accolade she has received.”

After the statement victories over Rosemont, Centenary went on to shutout Notre Dame of Maryland University on the road in back-to-back 9-0 games before defeating Baptist Bible College 11-0 and 11-3 at home to put them at 11-9 on the season. With that record they stood over .500 for the first time since opening day.

In their next set of games, the Cyclones would travel to take on the then-No.1 ranked team in the country, Montclair State University. Not only was Montclair State the top team in the country at that time, but they also had statistically the top pitcher in the country. Despite those elements in the game, the Cyclones played extremely well and only lost 6-1 and 4-2 in the games.

“They’re a tough team, obviously from their ranking,” Broking said. “A loss is never a positive thing, but I saw a lot of positive things we could take away from those two games.”

Focusing on the plusses from the Montclair games, Centenary would go on a tear and win its next eight games to fuel a furious post-season push.  The eight game winning streak began on Senior Day when Montferrat and fellow seniors Brianne McManus, Roxanne Keelan and Morgan Huizenga picked up a pair of victories over Gwynedd-Mercy College by the scores of 8-1 and 1-0 respectively. Over the next six victories, numerous milestones and records were set by members of the team. Beginning in the triumphs over Cairn University, McManus recorded her 100^th career hit and Montferrat became Centenary’s all-time leader in total bases. In the next set of wins over Drew University Montferrat became the school’s leader in career games played while pitcher Meagan Madsen became the all-time leader in saves.  The Cyclones wrapped up their winning streak with two victories over Cabrini College to put their record at 19-11 headed into the regular season finale.

“That winning streak did a lot for our confidence as a team,” Broking said. “With six of those eight victories coming against CSAC teams, it was just what we needed down the stretch.”

In the regular season finale the Cyclones would take on yet another CSAC team in Keystone College. In the first game between the two, the Cyclones would fall 3-2 after the same bats that had jolted Centenary’s season the previous eight games, simply had a power outage.  The Cyclones would get back to their winning ways in the second game of the twin bill behind the bat of Erin Walsh who went two-for-three with three RBIs in a convincing 10-0 victory.  The win gave them their 20^th victory of the season and also ended the regular season on a high note.

However, that victory over Keystone would be the last one of the 2013 season unfortunately. Ironically enough the Cyclones hosted Keystone in the first round of the CSAC tournament and unfortunately were defeated by the final score of 4-0.  Keystone would go on to make the CSAC championship game, as the first sixth seeded team to make it in conference history.

Despite the early exit from the CSAC tournament, the Cyclones’ postseason was not yet over.  Centenary was selected as the No.3 seed for the ECAC tournament and would welcome the Alfred University Saxons to Legion Field.  However, a win was not in the cards for Centenary as they were defeated 6-1 by the Saxons to end their season.

While the Cyclones’ postseason run wasn’t the most successful, the same cannot be said about the season and careers of many of the players, especially the senior class.

Huizenga had a strong defensive season for the Cyclones, as she manned right field all year long. After not playing her first two years on campus, she stepped in this year and started every game for Centenary.  In her best game this season, Morgan went three-for-three with two doubles and a homerun while recording five RBIs against Baptist Bible College on April 13^th.  Those 5 RBIs tied her for the third most in a single game in Cyclones history.

Keelan, like Huizenga, transferred to Centenary College for her junior and senior seasons.  In just two years with the Cyclones Keelan has recorded the seventh best career ERA (3.79), fourth most wins (26), fourth most complete shutouts (nine),sixth most strikeouts (173) and sixth most innings pitched (266).  In just this season Keelan also ranked among the leaders in single-season records including third in complete games (14) fifth in starts (20) and first in saves.

Despite sustaining an injury that wiped out her entire 2011 season, McManus still led a talented career at the plate.  The righty wraps up her career with 109 career hits, good enough for ninth all-time in school history.  In addition to that, she scored the sixth most runs in school history with 75 and seventh highest amount of total bases with 54.  The sure-handed infielder also left her mark defensively as well, leaving the program with the fifth most put outs in school history with 347 and seventh in fielding percentage with a .965.

Last but certainly not least is 2010 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-American Cara Montferrat.  When looking through the record books Montferrat’s name is at the top or nearly the top of every offensive category.  Through her hard work Montferrat has become Centenary College’s all-time leader in games played, RBI, total bases, on base percentage, triples, doubles, homeruns,base on balls and slugging percentage.  Defensively she’s also the all-time leader in fielding percentage and put outs—with her 929 total put outs being 256 more than the second place total.   

In just this season alone, Montferrat has done more than many players do in a career.  Her 2013 season totals also place her among the top statistical single-seasons in school history. This season she had the highest batting average (.484), most triples (seven), highest on base percentage (.607) and highest slugging percentage with a 1.043—a higher percentage by .164 over the second best season in history.  Montferrat also finished this season with the fifth most doubles (11) and fourth most homeruns with nine.

Going by numbers alone it’s easy to see that the Cyclones are losing some very big piecesto the program’s recent success.  However, the 2014 Cyclones are returning several intricate pieces that will surely make them a highly competitive team again.

Katie Ciecwisz will return next season and brings with her 119 career games of experience.  Ciewisz has quietly amassed some impressive career total and will look to build upon them in her senior season.  With a year left Ciewisz is knocking on the door to be in the top five all-time in several categories including: hits (currently has 118), runs scored (currently has 64), at bats (currently has 376), doubles (currently has 30) and fielding assists (currently has 218). 

In addition to Ciewisz, the Cyclones welcome back pitcher/first baseman Megan Madsen. Madsen is currently second in school-history with 35 career wins, second in starts with 51 and second in appearances with 82.  She will also add on to the categories in which she already has the all-time mark such as complete game shutouts (15) and saves (five).

The Cyclones will also return Erin Walsh who started every game this season and batted .313—the fifth best on the team.  Centenary will also look for big things from several other players who batted north of the Mendoza Line in Jessica Curtis, Caitlyn Dean and Samantha Belmonte.  Rising freshman speedsterSamantha Sysak will also return with a year of experience and will surely make a difference in the Cyclones offense.

“We definitely are losing some big pieces that have made us successful in recent seasons,” Broking said.  “However, we’re returning some good players and are also bringing a few new players that could make a difference from day one.”

Next year’s Cyclones team will certainly look different from this year’s, but after five straight seasons with at least 20 victories the program certainly has the pedigree.  2013 was another phenomenal season for Centenary College but the Cyclones have a ton to be excited about for the 2014 season.