Softball makes first long trip as year ends

What motivates a team to play meaningless games? Ask the Penn softball team, who, after Wednesday's slaughtering at the hands of Princeton, travels to Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend for its final two doubleheaders of the season. The Quakers (13-18, 3-6 Ivy League), were mathematically eliminated from the Ivy title race. However, that is nothing new for them, considering they haven't won an Ivy title in 15 years. The team has averaged only 10 wins per season over the last six years. Going into this weekend, however, they already have 13, three more than a year ago. The major difference between this year's team and last year's is the attitude. It may be naivete, but the players really believe that they can win every game they play. When Penn is playing up to their potential, the team is successful. They started out the season that way and have shown glimpses of that caliber, like last weekend against Yale. "When a team is young and competitive, it goes into every game with high expectations," Penn coach Linda Carothers said. "We are not where we want to be. We are not playing the kind of ball we should be playing, and now we have to reverse the tide again." Despite the senior leadership on the team, the predominance of youth, which is comprised of eight freshmen, shows itself in big games. It takes more than vocal leaders and positive cheers to stir players to compete above their ability. The consistent ability to regroup after a bad inning is a major factor that makes teams successful. After a disappointing day against Brown, the Quakers stormed back to sweep Yale. However, the inability of Penn to recover from giving up six runs in two innings at Princeton showed itself, as the Tigers went on to score 10 more unanswered runs. "After we played four tremendous innings, the bottom dropped out," Carothers said. "We never recovered from the fifth inning." On the last weekend of the season, the Quakers make their first real road trip. Tomorrow, the Red and Blue will be in Cambridge, Mass., to take on Harvard (21-17-1, 2-4). The Crimson boast one of the best records in the league and are the only team the Ancient Eight to beat Princeton this year. Ace pitcher Tasha Cupp is fourth in the Ivy League with a 1.91 earned run average and second in wins with 14. Beating them will require eliminating the mental lapses prevalent in the games at Princeton. The team will continue north to Hanover, N.H., where they will meet Dartmouth. The Red and Blue will look to improve their record by beating the Big Green (5-19, 0-6). Dartmouth resides in the cellar of the Ivy League. However, the team is similar to Penn -- they have a lot of youth and play with nothing to lose. "They have played some teams very tough," Carothers said. "We can't look at this weekend and think that at any time we won't be in a dog fight." What this team has to play for is its pride. In showing that they can play the best teams competitively, Penn can finish off the season strong and end on a positive note that they can build on next season.