By Mike Rudin - Sports Editor It is the end of the Bill Edwards era with Hofstra softball. First-year head coach Larissa Anderson has to fill the big shoes left by the legendary coach whom was inducted into the Hofstra Athletics Hall of Fame last May.
Last year, the Pride grinded out the regular season with a 32-11 record and a third place finish in the Colonial Athletic Association standings. Hofstra went on a frenzy in the beginning of the season with a 9-1 start and finished the regular season on cloud nine with a 10-game winning streak.
During the postseason, the Pride faced similar fates in the CAA tournament and the NCAA tournament as they were eliminated in three games.
Hofstra won against Charleston 8-4 in the first round but the James Madison Dukes knocked the Pride down a couple of pegs with an 8-0 shutout. That shutout forced Hofstra into an elimination game against the Towson Tigers whom knocked the Pride out by one run in a 7-6 loss.
Despite not winning the CAA title, Hofstra still made an NCAA appearance thanks to the tremendous success in the regular season.
Hofstra battled Texas A&M in the first game of the tournament but quickly wound up in a bind, losing 7-6. They were then forced into another elimination game against Bryant University. The Pride managed to live a little bit longer with a 10-6 win but, for the second time, Hofstra couldn’t pull a win against the Texas A&M, losing 7-0 to conclude the 2014 season.
2015 holds potential and promise for the team as Hofstra was ranked third in the CAA preseason polls. Six starters from last year will suit up in a Pride uniform yet again for the upcoming season.
James Madison took the first place spot in the polls with 56 points. College of Charleston tallied 48 points, two more than the Pride’s numbers in the polls.
Larissa Anderson was a part of Edwards’ staff as an assistant head coach for the last 10 years and intends to continue the system Edwards left in place for the last 25 seasons.
“I’m not changing the foundation,” said head coach Larissa Anderson. “The foundation is set, we’ll always recruit the players that have blue collar, great work-ethic, [are] self-motivated. And we kind of put a little new twist on it. We’re calling it the new era.”
“The leadership has been outstanding. The chemistry that we have right now, I never been a part of a team that has the type of chemistry we have right now,” said Anderson. “It’s not that we have one leader, there’s about 14-15 leaders that we have on our team. They’ve taken a lot of ownership in the program where they want to make a name for themselves.”
Hofstra’s top two pitchers from last year will return to the mound – seniors Morgan Lashley and Taylor Pirone – for the upcoming season. Lashley and Prione compiled all 34 wins last year and nearly all the innings pitched in 2014.
Catcher Erin Trippi talked about how she noticed the chemistry of the team and the impression it’s left on her.
“In four years, this is a team I’ve yet to be a part of, in a sense that, our communication is unbelievable,” said Trippi. “We’re all on the same page, we all have good work-ethic.” The catcher heads into her senior year to provide for the team as one of the captains and offensive leaders for the Pride one last time.
“I’m going to try to be a fierce competitor. I’ve always competed in everything I do,” said Trippi. “But this year [especially] I want to go out with a bang and leave everything on the field with no regrets. I want to play every game like it’s the championship game. I don’t care who we’re playing, every game I’m going to give it my all.”
Sophomore outfielder Chloe Fitzgerald will come back to maintain her reputation as a quality hitter for the Pride.
Fitzgerald led the Pride with a .370 batting average and produced well in the conference tournament with a .455 average.
Anderson mentioned one player that she expects to step for the team that others possibly have overlooked.
“I would say Michaela Transue. She was our starter at third base, probably from the second half of the [2014] season. She’s only a sophomore and she’s competed right now, she’s going to be our starting shortstop and she’s a veteran. Even she’s only a sophomore, she’s a veteran on the field, she takes ownership, she’s a leader on the field, everyone looks to her, she has a remendous amount of energy.”
First glance at the 2015 schedule has Hofstra on the road for the LSU invitational to open the season on Feb. 13.