Bridgewater State Returns to NCAA Softball Tournament

By Jim Fenton, The Enterprise (Brockton)

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Less than three weeks into the season, the Bridgewater State University softball team had gone through plenty of adversity.

First, head coach Lori Salvia resigned following the team’s eight-game trip to Fort Myers, Fla., and assistant coach Allie LeBlanc took over on an interim basis.

Then, in late March, the Bears were sitting five games below .500 with a 4-9 record as they were going through an adjustment process.

During the time when BSU was making the coaching transition, though, LeBlanc saw something in the Bears that made her think a successful season might be possible.

“I was hoping for it, but I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure that I was expecting it,’’ said LeBlanc. “But I think a couple of practices in, I was sitting there watching the team and running regular drills, and everything I asked them to do, they did it and then some.

“Just to watch them step up behind me, that’s when something went off in my head and I thought, ‘We could do this. We could bring this program back to the top.’’’

The Bears were indeed able to turn things around, and for the first time since 2009, they are bound for the NCAA Div. 3 tournament.

BSU (26-15) is the No. 6 seed in an eight-team regional and will play at third-seeded Babson College on Thursday at 2 p.m. in the double-elimination tournament.

The Bears, who have won 14 of their past 17 games, rallied with three straight wins to take the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference championship last weekend and gain the automatic berth.

“It’s phenomenal. It’s the best feeling ever,’’ said junior Amber White of Middleboro, the tourney most valuable player and the MASCAC pitcher of the year. “It was kind of like our whole season. We went through a lot where we had to come back from.

“Losing a game on Saturday was one more thing we had to go through. It kind of made the win that much sweeter to come back and win. We’re thrilled. We’re so excited to be going to the NCAAs.’’

The pitching of White (15-6, 0.63 earned run average) and Meghan Dunn (10-9), the hitting of Jennifer Shaw of Brockton (.371, two homers), MASCAC regular-season MVP Brianna Strecker (.317), Jill Welch (.315) and Jocelyn Bettencourt of Plymouth (.309) plus sound defense have added up to a return to the NCAA tourney.

BSU was swept by Babson, 3-0 and 5-4, on March 27 in Bridgewater, but that was before the Bears got rolling in April and early May.

“We’re a completely different team than we were at the beginning of the season,’’ said White. “We’ll come out ready this week.’’

Said LeBlanc, who is 23-10: “I think we got off to a rocky start. There were some adjustments on their part to my coaching style. From the time we hit our stride in the middle of the season, it’s just a different team now. We’ve done a huge 180. Their drive and passion is fueling them and they’re riding it for all it’s worth right now.’’

BSU will be trying to snap an 11-game NCAA tournament losing streak. The Bears’ last win came on May 12, 2002 when they edged Wheaton College, 1-0.

“They’re expecting to go very far,’’ said LeBlanc, who took part in three NCAA tournaments as a player. “They’re in such a good place right now and gone through so much that this just means so much more to them than it has (to teams) in the past.

“I think if they can stay consistent, nothing can stop them. I think we can go far in this tournament. I have all the faith in this team. I am overjoyed for them. For the seniors, it’s been four years of trying and trying and trying and just missing. They finally did it. It was a huge sigh of relief.’’