Bulldogs' Softball Team Off and Running

Averaging more than seven runs per game, Batavia’s softball team is off to one of its best starts in recent years this season.
While the 2011 campaign is still in its infancy, the Bulldogs appear determined to improve upon last year’s 17-21 record.
After winning a pair of 7-6 decisions in their season debut on March 19, the Bulldogs raised their record to 4-0 with a doubleheader sweep of Morris Saturday in Batavia.
Junior pitcher Katie Coleman (2-0) fired a 1-hitter with 10 strikeouts as the Bulldogs took the opener, 7-0. 
In the nightcap, Brooke Nelson (2-0) scattered seven hits in a distance mound effort during the Bulldogs’ 8-3 victory.
“What a great way to play today,” said Batavia first-year coach Ashley Szymski. “I was very happy with our performance today, especially at the plate.
“Before the game, we said ‘score first,’” added Szymski. “That’s the first thing we wanted to do.”
Mission accomplished, as Batavia scored six runs in the first two innings of Saturday’s opener before jumping on top in the second game with a six-run second inning.
In game one, Katie Neubauer walked and Christine Lynam reached on a throwing error to put runners on second and third for Nelson, who delivered a two-run double to make it 2-0.
“Even with two outs, we scored two runs which was a real positive,” said Szymski. “It started the momentum.”
Batavia added four runs in the second, thanks in part to a two-run home run by freshman second baseman Erin Costigan that cleared the fence near the scoreboard in left-center. Costigan added a fifth-inning single and stole a base in just her third varsity career game.
“Coach (assistant Lupe Castellanos) and I were both saying that she hit really well yesterday and again before the game today,” said Szymski. “We were both saying she’s going to do something today.”
Costigan batted ninth in the lineup against Morris, a comfortable spot for an up-and-coming freshman.
“She gets that ball going for the top of the order,” said Szymski. “That’s what you want.”
Neubauer added an RBI triple while Lynam, who smacked a pair of home runs against Huntley, had a run-scoring single in the second inning.
Coleman did the rest, taking a no-hitter into the fifth before giving up a leadoff single to Monica Belt.
“I was in a good rhythm,” said Coleman. “My screwball and curveball were both working well.”
“She keeps the ball low,” Szymski said of Coleman. “Teams don’t get many multiple base hits off her.”
In the second game, Lindsay McEachern’s two-run single and Costigan’s two-run triple highlighted the Bulldogs’ six-run second.
Katie Ryan, Meghan Fabian and catcher Emily Dorjath rounded out the starting lineup Saturday for Batavia, which begins its Upstate Eight Conference River Division season Wednesday (April 6) at Bartlett.
“As long as team chemistry stays high, I think we can have a really good season,” said Szymski, who is a teacher at Neuqua Valley. 
“I know who the powerhouse in our division is, and it’s St. Charles North,” added Szymski. “In our division, we should finish in the top three. That’s what I’d like.”