After losing in the Patriot League Tournament finals for three straight years, Lehigh hopes the fall season will prepare them to take the final step.
Lehigh softball finished its fall season on Oct. 23, tying Binghamton in a 10-inning game.
The team went 6-0-1 in the fall and now enter the off-season preparing for a full 2022 spring season.
Coach Fran Troyan said the team is looking forward to entering a period of time which emphasizes individual skill development.
“The fall season is an opportunity for us to try and start getting ready for the spring,” Troyan said. “The record of the fall isn’t important, especially coming off of the pandemic.”
Seniors Carley Barjaktarovich and Jaelynn Chesson are hoping to bring their individual success from last spring to this upcoming season.
“The fall season went very well,” Barjaktarovich said. “It was nice seeing freshmen come out and play. A very productive fall overall.”
Barjaktarovich had a dominant spring season her junior year.
As leadoff hitter, she led the way for the Mountain Hawks, hitting .471 with 57 hits and 19 stolen bases in 34 games.
There were only four games all season in which Barjaktarovich did not record a hit.
Barjaktarovich topped it all off by winning the 2021 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year.
Even though the fall games do not count, Barjaktarovich said they are good preparation for the team’s spring season, enabling them to understand what they need to work on through the winter.
For outfielder Chesson, this fall season was all about communication on the diamond.
“For me playing in the outfield, it is important that the infield and the outfield are communicating,” Chesson said. “It gets me more comfortable playing with new people.”
Chesson hit .380 in the spring and led the team with 16 doubles, eight home runs and 50 RBIs.
Coach Troyan has coached Lehigh softball for 27 seasons.
He said the fall season is a time meant for the group to build their culture and to learn what championship-level individuals do on championship teams.
“We just have to continue improving on every aspect of the game,” Troyan said. “The pitching staff is young and will nature, and the fielding and hitting will continue to improve.”
Troyan said he believes the team can finally win it all for the first time since 2017.
“We’ve got players who have played at pretty high levels and we’re looking to develop as much depth as we can,” Troyan said. “The better everyone’s individual skills are, the better of a team we can put onto the field.”
Troyan said winning the Patriot League Championship is the main goal.
To do that, Troyan anticipates having to beat Boston University, which has been a challenge in the past.
“Every year I’ve been here, we’ve come up short to Boston (University), so I would really like to beat Boston (University),” Troyan said.
The Lehigh softball spring schedule has yet to be announced, but the Mountain Hawks typically start non-Patriot League play in late February.
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