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Ladies ready to make run in SUNYAC
By Chris Dierken
On March 13, 2013
The unmistakable ping of a ball hitting a bat and the familiar thud it makes when it falls
into a glove are welcomed sounds for the Buffalo State softball team.
The Bengals are just 16 days away from their season opener, and the team has high
expectations going into the 2013 season.
"All they talk about is 'we're going to win,' and that's it," head coach Marie Curran said.
"There's no question - it's 'we're going to win.'"
The team's goals don't stop at just winning games, however. Led by their four seniors,
the Bengals' ultimate mission is to win the conference tournament.
"I want to win SUNYACs," said senior catcher Lindsay Goff.
To achieve their ambitions, the Bengals will have to embrace the new mentality brought
to the table by Curran.
Curran took over as head coach last season after longtime coach Sandy Hollander
passed away. This year, with a full off-season under its belts, the team is primed to put
its coach's teachings into practice.
One of Curran's biggest values as a coach is her aggressive nature, both offensively and
defensively. Her team has adopted that philosophy and is excited to display their new
approach on the field.
"We're going to be very aggressive," senior infielder Sam Strapason said. "We're going
to be coming out gunning for people. We want to be the team to beat."
Although aggressive play will be important to the Bengals' success this year, it alone
won't be enough to help them achieve their goal. The team's success is also contingent
on how its young pitching staff performs.
Goff, who is entering her fifth season as catcher for the Bengals, knows the team's
pitchers are unproven, but thinks pitching will be a strength of the team this year.
"It's cliché to say that they work hard because that's what they say every year, but the
pitchers this year are actually getting it," she said. "Whenever they're doing bad, they
get up and they strike out the next person."
Maddie Coneys, the team's only returning pitcher, believes the Bengals' defensive
prowess will allow the pitchers some margin for error.
"Our outfield is amazing," she said. "We have a lot of speed in the outfield. Defensively,
we're like a wall."
Joining Coneys on the staff this season will be sophomore Sam Tilkins and freshman
Kelsi Leo.
Despite the confidence in the Bengals' on-field ability, the one attribute that Curran
sees in this year's team more than any she has coached in the past is hard work. She
knows that talent and skill are important to any team, but what Curran thinks will set
the Bengals apart is their effort on and off the field.
"(Those) 19 girls that are working their rear ends off," said a beaming Curran after
practice Friday. "I've never had the privilege of working with a team that has worked
this hard, and I mean the entire team."
The Bengals will get their first taste of game action when they travel to Florida next
week for 10 exhibition games. Their regular season will start with two home double
headers, Friday, March 29 against New Paltz and Saturday, March 30 against Oneonta.
Curran is excited to get on the field and see what her team can do. She has a
tremendous amount of confidence in her squad, and thinks they will get better
throughout the season.
"We're better than we've ever been," she said. "We're going to continue to get better
every day because game experience is going to make us better."
Chris Dierken can be reached by email at dierken.record@live.com and on Twitter
@cdierken.
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