About The Team
Since its first season in 1986, Elms College softball teams have
won more than 350 games, made nine Massachusetts Association of
Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (MAIAW) tournament appearances,
won the 1994 MAIAW Tournament championship, and in 2003, became the
first team in any sport in athletic department history to earn a
bid to the NCAA Division III championship.
The Blazers have been especially dominant since 2002, as they have
earned three trips the NCAA Division III Championship (2003, 2006,
and 2007), claimed five regular season conference titles, and have
won 17 or more games in 10 of the last 11 seasons.
For the fourth consecutive season, the Elms College softball team under the guidance of 26th-year head coach Cheryl Condon has earned a berth in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championship tournament.
The Blazers won six of their final eight games to finish the 2012 conference slate with a 10-8 record and earned the fourth seed in the tournament.
Senior outfielder Jennifer Killion (Cambridge, Mass.) was named Second Team All-NECC, while sophomore third baseman Hayley Zisk (Baldwinville, Mass.) was named Honorable Mention All-NECC.
Killion batted .390 in 18 games against conference pitching this season collecting 23 hits, three doubles, a triple and drove in 10 runs. Killion was also a force on the base paths going a perfect 15 for 15 in stolen base attempts and scoring 25 runs – both team highs.
Zisk pounded out 15 hits during the Blazer's NECC slate including a team-high nine doubles and she tied for the team lead in RBI with 17. Zisk, who hit .312 against the league, also legged out a pair of triples and scored 11 times.
Junior catcher Sarah Buckley (Wilbraham, Mass.) led the team with 23 RBI and added 11 doubles while amassing a .363 batting average during the season, while sophomore first baseman Ally Witaszek (Feeding Hills, Mass.) finished the season hitting above .300 with a .341 average on the strength of 31 hits, four doubles, two triples a home run and 14 runs driven in.
After being sidelined because of injury for much of the beginning part of the season, freshman outfielder Colleen Flaherty (Stoughton, Mass.) made an immediate impact upon her return to the field hitting at a .387 clip with 12 hits, six runs scored and a double.
In the pitcher’s circle, senior Courtney Hampton
(Westfield, Mass.) registered a stellar 11-11 overall
record which included a 7-5 mark in conference play and an overall
2.93 ERA (2.41 ERA against NECC hitters). In 150.1 innings pitched,
Hampton dealt 125 strikeouts and earned a save.
Built in 2008, the Cheryl R. Condon softball complex serves as the
Blazers’ home field. The field has a batting tunnel and
dugouts, and since its construction has played host to the Western
Mass Softball Sectional Tournament semifinals.
In addition to competing in the NECC, the Blazers belong to the
Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and National Collegiate
Athletic Association (NCAA).