Jen Steele is only three seasons in at Delaware as the women’s softball head coach, but she is already turning the Blue Hens into a formidable contender.
BY
Managing Sports Editor
Jen Steele is only three seasons in at Delaware as the women’s softball head coach, but she is already turning the Blue Hens into a formidable contender. After a shortened 2020 season ended with a 19-4 record, Delaware has continued that success with an 21-7 record, following seven straight wins to begin the year.
Typically, a normal softball season would consist of somewhere around 50 regular season games. With an altered schedule due to the ongoing pandemic, though, the regular season for most teams is around half of the normal amount of games.
Compared to seasons past, this season’s schedule is also less varied. The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) split the conference into North and South divisions for this year to reduce travel and mitigate the potential for COVID-19 complications. Delaware was placed in the North division, alongside Drexel, Hofstra and Towson.
Each team was originally scheduled to play each division opponent a total of six times; however, postponements and cancellations due to COVID-19 protocols have kept those 18 conference games from being completed.
According to Steele, the reduced amount of total games and conference matchups has increased the level of urgency for each and every game in the CAA.
“Every [CAA] game we play feels like the conference championship. Teams play you hard, no one lets up and they battle until the last out,” Steele said. “We’re just trying to take it day-by-day and game-by-game.”
Unfortunately for Delaware, COVID-19 protocols within the Towson program canceled the second season series between the Blue Hens and the Tigers. Steele noted that because the CAA limits conference opponents to six games on the year, adding matchups against Drexel or Hofstra was not an option.
The Hens were able to add non-conference matchups with a road game versus Saint Joseph’s on Wednesday and a home doubleheader versus St. John’s this Saturday.
With four teams making the CAA Tournament in May, every conference matchup holds playoff implications. While each division will have one team in the tournament, a second team is not guaranteed, meaning Delaware could face multiple teams for the first time this season in postseason play.
Steele emphasized that the team focuses on what they can control, which is winning games, whether that be in-conference or out-of-conference. COVID-19 protocols, CAA rules and playoff selections are outside factors that Steele does not want influencing the team’s attitude or play on the diamond.
“We have to make sure the external factors don’t control how we react,” Steele said. “We’re good at going day-by-day, pitch-by-pitch and being able to adapt.”
Thus far, the Blue Hens have certainly been able to do just that, particularly on the offensive end. Nationally, Delaware’s offense is ranked in the top 20 in various categories. The Blue Hens are 10th in batting average, 10th in runs per game, 16th in on-base percentage and 16th in stolen bases per game.
The offense is headlined by junior outfielder Hana Garber, who leads the team with a .429 batting average, 36 hits and 26 runs. Her 12 stolen bases are second on the team, just behind a mark of 15 by freshmen third baseman Lexi Moore.
Junior infielders Brittney Mendoza and Brooke Glanden and senior infielder Karolina Flores have been crucial pieces to the Blue Hens lineup this season. All three veterans are hitting over .350 with at least 20 hits, five home runs and 20 RBIs.
“The hot start to the season had a lot to do with our veteran lineup,” Steele said of the team’s upperclassmen. “We returned so many players who had two full years under their belt, and that sort of experience carries through early in the season.”
In addition to the team’s star juniors and seniors, the lineup has also featured the impressive play of multiple freshmen. Outfielder Julz Garber is batting .373 with 17 runs and eight stolen bases. Additionally, Moore has been a mainstay in the starting lineup and is batting at a .319 clip.
“[Moore’s] athleticism allowed her to be pretty versatile and adapt over to third base,” Steele said. “[She] has provided consistency in the ‘2-hole’ for us to follow up Hana Garber and to have so much speed in our lineup.”
On the mound, freshman Delani Sheehan has made her mark out of the bullpen. Her record is 5-3, with an ERA of 3.11 in 47⅓ innings of action.
“She’s our only left-handed pitcher, so that gives her a unique advantage with certain matchups,” Steele said of Sheehan. She is able to get a lot of ground balls on the left side of the infield [versus] a lefty-heavy lineup.”
Meanwhile, sophomore Emily Winburn has been the ace of the Delaware pitching staff this spring. In 18 appearances, Winburn is 12-2 with a 2.69 ERA through 88⅓ innings. Steele points to her experience as a freshmen and development over the offseason as keys to her standout year.
“She has a lot of innings under her belt; she knows where she wants to put her pitches in certain counts [and] she’s learned to study film,” Steele said. “It’s just a natural progression of freshman to sophomore, and she’s really talented.”
As the regular season comes to a close, the team’s next step is to qualify for the CAA Tournament, where their performance could grant them a berth to NCAA Women’s College World Series. For now, though, Steele is proud of her team’s resilience and the amount of fun they are having despite the unorthodox season.
“We’re a pretty gritty team, and we have a lot of fun,” Steele said. “When you combine talent along with a lot of passion, you have a high ceiling, so I do believe we can make a deep run at the conference tournament.”
