The Utah softball team’s 2009 season has officially come to an end. The Utes finished fifth in the conference, lower than the expected fourth place projection, with a record of 4-10.
The team said a formal goodbye to five seniors after their final game May 9 against New Mexico. The team is now beginning to prepare for the changes that will inevitably follow losing the influence and talent the seniors provided. Head coach Amy Hogue said she won’t be able to replace the seniors the team is losing with recruits.
“Physically, possibly, but the amount of heart these kids have is something you can’t know until you get a kid in the program,” Hogue said.
Seniors Staci Hemingway, Angie Boardman and Sharee Fonoti were all voted as captains this season by their teammates. Hemingway was named to the ESPN The Magazine All Academic District VIII team, and Boardman was selected to the 2009 All-MWC team. In 2008, seniors Andrea Hoffman and Bonnie Muir were given Academic All-MWC honors.
All five seniors contributed consistently on offense, as well as defense, earning recognition on the Utes’ Senior Day for career starts, hits, home runs, RBIs and stolen bases.
Although the seniors have played their last games as Utes, Hemingway said she and the other seniors will always be around.
“I’m always a Ute,” Hemingway said. “With these girls, I hope to share with them a little bit of me so hopefully each of them can bring each one of us seniors back to the team.”
Although the seniors are gone, there are still many women on the team who will be back to play next year. All four pitchers will be returning, as well as junior center fielder and offensive threat Kara Foster.
Foster, who was selected to the 2009 All-MWC team and named Mountain West Conference Player of the Week in mid-May, broke Utah’s home run record in April with her 50th home run at Utah Valley. She ended her junior year with 53 career home runs, smashing 18 out of the park this season.
“We’re losing five seniors that produced a lot for our team,” Foster said. “But I think our junior class is going to be stepping it up this next year when we become seniors, and we’re going to just take on that load. We’re prepared for it.”
Also returning next season are freshman infielder Whitney Holm and junior pitcher Ashley Smuda, who respectively earned Player and Pitcher of the Week awards in February.
The returning Utes will welcome new recruits to their team8212;both freshmen and transfers. The team has yet to begin any training with the new players, but Foster said she has high hopes for the talent the coaches are bringing in for the 2010 season.
“Next year, we’re bringing in a lot of new athletes,” said Foster. “I’ve seen them play, and we’re going to pick up right where we left off with winning at the end of the season, and we’re going to continue that going into Fall Ball and into the spring.”
Fall Ball will be an intensive preview of the 2010 season, specifically working the new athletes’ skills and getting the adjusted group of players used to each other.
To prepare for Fall Ball and the following season, the team will be working individually on strength and training programs and checking up on each other to make sure the platers are doing the necessary work to improve their results next season.
Tyler Cobb/The Daily Utah ChronicleAshley Smuda and all three of the other pitchers will return next season to play for Utah. Smuda won Pitcher of the Week honors in February for the Utes.