Looking out onto the FAU softball field, it’s hard to not notice the five conference championship billboards lining the outfield. These consecutive championships represent success for the team that started just seven years ago.
This year, however, the team has a different measurement of success.
“We definitely want go to the (College) World Series,” freshman Pam Mazzarella says of the team’s goals for the season.
The Lady Owls started off their season with a quick 8-1 record and have since improved to an amazing 38-5 overall record and climbed up the top 25 polls to No. 10 in the nation.
“I don’t hide that from them,” Head Coach Joan Joyce says of the polls. “I want them to see how their hard work is paying off.”
Hard work got the team an overall batting average of 2.63 while holding the opposition to a slim .190 batting average.
The early success hasn’t come easily this year. When the Owls had a heartbreaker of a loss to the fourth rank in the nation Stanford.
“We could have beaten them Stanford,” says Joyce. “The way I see it is that they made three plays that won it for them. But, like I told them, if we want to get to the World Series, we’re going to have to play them again.”
For the past two seasons, the Lady Owls’ Nicole Myers has been the most dominant player on the mound as well as the batter’s box. This year, however, Candice Freel, Florida Atlantic’s number two starter, has complimented Myers on the mound.
Freel has posted a 17-2 record with an ERA at 1.22 while Myers has a 2-14 record with a 0.75 ERA thus far.
The Florida Atlantic offense has been the spark plug for this team. In the off-season, Coach Joyce brought in Mazarella, a freshman from Brookfield, Connecticut. Mazarella currently leads the team in runs batted in with 28.
Although the Lady Owls have seen improvements this season in both the offense and performances from the pitching mound, the team has also come together like a family.
“We have a really dynamic team this season,” Freel says about the team’s chemistry. “We are all real good friends and hang out all the time.”
The camaraderie may begin at practice for the team. The girls aren’t allowed to leave until Mazarella puts a pitch over the fence.
“One time in practice she hit the tarp out there covering the batting cage.” Joyce says, pointing to the new batting cage about 270 feet from home plate. “Whether she hits in games or not, she’s real intimidating in the batter’s box. She definitely has the power to back it up though.”
Coach Joyce is impressed with the team overall, but feels that there is room for improvement.
“I think we can get a lot better on the infield. Our infield play has dropped a lot of balls this season. You’ll see that we switch around the infield quite a bit during the season trying to find the right chemistry,” Joyce says.
The weight off of Myers, last year’s Conference Player of the Year, has also come from seniors Ninya Yabarra and Heather Wright.
Wright leads the team with a .412 batting average and Ybarra, Florida Atlantic’s leadoff batter, has eight homeruns.
“I knew coming into the season that this was my senior year and I wanted to have a good year,” Wright says.
FAU has also received improved play from sophomore Ginny Matthews. The former Olympic Heights outfielder got the starting job in centerfield for the Lady Owls and is batting .265 with 30 hits.
Joyce is happy with the team’s performance. “We are getting a lot of timely hits, but they have worked extremely hard this season and they are seeing the results now,” she says.
The Lady Owls best start ever hasn’t been unnoticed by the pollsters either. The USAToday/NFCA Poll has the team ranked No. 10 in the nation, just 14 points behind the ninth position.
Florida Atlantic has been climbing the polls every week this season beginning with a pre-season rank of 28 and ranked 24 after the first two weeks, but a big win against the No. 5 ranked team Oklahoma put this team up to the 11 position in recent weeks.
Winning the “FAU Parent’s Weekend” including crucial wins against No. 14 Iowa and No. 23 Minnesota have helped the Lady Owls climb in front of Fresno State in the rankings to tenth spot.
The polls appear to be a barometer for this team – not a success.
And Mazzarella thinks the team can get the ultimate success, She says, “We’ve never been to the World Series and we think we have the team to do it this year.”
