Photo courtesy of Ramapo Athletics
After months of frozen fields, players and coaches of Ramapo College’s softball team are set to return to improve on last year’s season and look toward building a winning team.
The Roadrunners, fresh off being crowned NJAC Tournament Champions for the first time in the program’s history, are poised to repeat with five All-Conference players returning, along with head coach Bridgette Quimpo.
Quimpo’s team, picked to finish second in the preseason coach’s poll, is working, not only toward success on the field, but to remain grounded.
Quimpo explained that her team must “continue to work hard, stay humble and control what they can control.”
Graduating seniors can sometimes lead to a loss of leadership, something Quimpo acknowledges, but by remaining focused on what needs to be done she believes this can be overcome. The five returning All-Conference players, seniors Melissa Moreno, Melanie Walling and Danielle Saporito, as well as junior Grace Brennan and sophomore Katrina Buczkowski, will all be leaned on in the upcoming season, not only for their play on the field, but for leadership on and off of it, as well.
With the level of competition in the extremely competitive NJAC, leadership will be vital for the success of the team.
Speaking about her All-Conference talent, Quimpo does not look at statistical performance.
“I expect them to lead, and I expect them to be better,” said Quimpo.
Sticking to her grounded approach, the head coach looks only to see a humbled, prepared team, striving for success as a unit.
After the postseason success of last season, the softball team will look toward their regular season conference schedule to gain momentum. With a 13-4-1 conference record last season, another NJAC tournament berth seems inevitable.
Quimpo sees otherwise: “Our goal is to be consistent in the NJAC. The ultimate goal is to win [the conference],” she said.
Remaining consistent and getting better every day is a more attainable goal, one that will be worked towards beginning in Florida, where the team will head to compete in its first 12 games of the season. After playing 12 games in seven days, the team will head back to New Jersey for its home opener against SUNY-Oneonta on March 24, and on April 2 will begin conference play against Stockton, leading them on a run that they hope will end in the same place as last year: the NCAA tournament.
egrazia1@ramapo.edu
