EDITOR'S NOTE: This feature story appeared in the Summer 2019 Edition of the Concord University Alumni Magazine
On the first weekend in May, the work hadn't quite been done for the Concord University softball team.
Concord entered the Mountain East Conference Tournament having already tied the program's single-season win record with 34 and was in the mix for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. However, the Mountain Lions had some work to do at the conference tournament to secure its advancement into the NCAA Tournament.
Plans quickly got derailed for Concord as it dropped the opening game to Fairmont State, 4-1, in the double elimination tournament. As CU sat around on a hot and humid afternoon in Salem, Virginia waiting for its next opponent, that heat and mugginess quickly turned into dark rain clouds that washed the rest of Friday's action away into early Saturday.
The Mountain Lions would have their backs pressed firmly to the wall in an elimination game against UVa.-Wise on Saturday, May 4, but started an improbable journey behind timely hitting and lockdown pitching. At 10:00 a.m. on this May morning, Concord took the field and promptly defeated UVa.-Wise. Two hours later, Charleston came over to field three at the Moyer Sports Complex and Concord took care of the Golden Eagles too. Along came Shepherd. Concord would defeat the team that had knocked it out of the MEC Tournament in 2017 and 2018 as freshman
Laura Thompson tossed a shutout of the Rams, giving Shepherd a dose of its own medicine.
Now with three wins in the matter of seven hours, CU had surely done enough to lock in an NCAA Tournament spot. But for good measure, the Mountain Lions beat West Virginia State, in a game that featured eight innings and had a near two-hour rain delay, to earn a spot in the MEC Championship Game against West Liberty the next day.
Four wins in 11 hours. All on the same day. And the longest break for Concord on the day was the two-hour rain delay. CU had 30-40 minutes between games to catch its breath and keep riding the wave of momentum that sparked this magical run that ended the next day with a championship game loss to West Liberty.
Thompson and sophomore
Cartney Schoolcraft were the pitching standouts for the Mountain Lions as Thompson earned the wins against Shepherd and West Virginia State. Meanwhile, Schoolcraft started the run with pitching victories against UVa.-Wise and Charleston. Sophomore
Dani Bloomingdale joined the pair on the All-MEC Tournament Team as she had a clutch two-RBI single in a 3-2 win over UVa.-Wise.
When the softball team woke up on Monday, May 6, they found themselves in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in five seasons thanks in some part to the work they had done on a manic Saturday afternoon in southwestern Virginia. Concord was off to West Liberty in a bracket with the Hilltoppers, Shepherd and Lock Haven.
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Unfortunately, the record-setting season for CU came to an end with losses against Shepherd then West Liberty.
But, there were so many awards and records along the way.
Junior
Jenna Witt became the first conference player of the year in program history in 26 years. Witt and senior
Kylie Kent both went on to become all-region players during the 2019 season. Thompson was named MEC Freshman of the Year—the first conference freshman of the year honor for the softball program.
Schoolcraft set the single-season team record in wins (18) and strikeouts (165).
But the most important record for CU was 38 wins. Just a season after winning 18 games, the Mountain Lions more than doubled their win total in 2019.
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Concord will have to replace Kent as well as
Abby Beatty and
Lauren Blunt with the trio graduating from Concord.
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But for this group of Mountain Lions, the future looks bright and the work appears far from finished.
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