Though the softball team’s 2008 campaign ended on Saturday, the Lord Jeffs have much to be proud of. Not only did they improve their conference play, finishing 6-6 after last season’s 4-8 record, but they beat Williams College for the first time in seven years, and were able to pull off at least one win against every conference opponent that they faced.

The Jeffs knew that they had to sweep their final series against arch-nemesis Williams in order to gain a spot in the conference tournament. With this knowledge in hand and confidence in their ability, the team took to the field on Friday afternoon.

“We had played 13 games in the 13 days before taking on Williams,” said junior outfielder Emily Bularzik, “three of which we won by one run, so we were ready to play under pressure. Knowing that we could pull through in tough situations gave us the confidence we needed to get big hits and make the plays.”

The contest was a low-scoring affair, with each team scoring just one run in seven frames of play, forcing the game to extra innings, and setting the stage for sophomore Emily Neill’s late game heroics. Junior Emily Bularzik led off the eighth inning with a sharply hit single to right field. Bularzik advanced to second on a bunt from senior Liz Neckes, who reached first on a Williams error.

Next up was Neill who jumped on the pitch and sent a double screaming into left field. Both Bularzik and Neckes scored on the play to put Amherst on top 3-1. The Ephs could not pull even in the bottom half of the inning, handing Amherst the victory and keeping the Jeffs’ playoff hopes alive.

The offense won the game in the eighth, but it was the errorless defense that kept the Jeffs in the game. Said Neill, “Our defense was amazing against Williams. Both the infield and the outfield really made the extra effort and it showed defensively.”

The Jeffs returned home for the final two games of the series and of the regular season. Though Amherst let the Ephs take an early lead in their first home match they fought back in the second half of the game. Down 2-0, the Jeffs exploded in the bottom of the fourth, taking advantage of two Williams errors and four Amherst hits to score four runs and take a two-run lead. Amherst sophomore hurler Alex Chang-Graham buckled down in the final three innings, allowing Williams only one hit. The Jeffs won the game 4-2 and got one step closer to a sweep.

The series finale saw the Jeffs ahead 5-1 in the beginning of the sixth inning. But Amherst couldn’t hold on to the magic as they made five errors and relinquished a total of seven runs in the seventh inning to surrender the lead. Ultimately, Amherst could not overcome the deficit and Williams won the final game by a score of 10-6, to put an end to the Jeffs’ season.

“I am very proud of the way we stepped up our game in our last two series of the year versus Wesleyan and Williams,” said Neill. “We really came together as a team and played well against two very good opponents.”

Though the final game was disappointing, the Jeffs kept their heads high and focused on all the positive parts of the season.

Sophomore center-fielder and lead-off hitter Jackie Tyler finished second in the NESCAC both in batting average (.451) and on-base percentage (.509) while Chang-Graham led the NESCAC with an ERA of 1.69. Neill and Neckes each tallied nine doubles on the season, good enough to tie them for fourth in the conference.

“Our teammates supported each other really well, on and off the field,” said Bularzik. “We only had a roster of 12, and everyone was called upon to make the big plays at some point during the season. Every single player contributed something.”