Griffins home-opener moved up; Coach Rosner gives mid-season preview

St. Louis, Mo. - Fontbonne softball's home opener on their newly renovated field at ABC Ball Park has moved up a day. The Griffins will host Lindenwood University on Tuesday, March 29th in a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m.

Below is a recount from head coach Bill Rosner on his 2016 season to date:

Our season began in Georgia at the NFCA's prestigious Lead Off Classic. We finished dead last at 0-5 and struggled in all aspects of the game. So this young group of ladies could've headed downhill from a tough weekend with their coaches and opponents but instead started the healing process on the bus ride home singing and caroling their way to mental stability. The Monday after our return the team worked out to prepare for a tough week of play again, starting with Central College, which was cancelled due to weather, then heading to the PFX Games in Orlando, Fla.

The dedication the team showed along with my staff was awesome. We had a plan, as coaches do, to get better in five days and they bought in to it. Their focus had changed and the moments to get better at practice improved rapidly. The detail that most impressed me was the team's attitude about playing better and winning games. They didn't see themselves as an 0-5 team, but as a team that just hadn't put all their pieces together.

So we headed south to find perennial power St. Thomas-Minn. in game one. Prior to spring break, I had a heart to heart with our pitching staff and indicated that pitching will need to be Fontbonne's biggest advantage in order to win. Veteran pitcher Madi Leonard pulled through, and gave up three runs on four hits and went seven innings for the first time this season. She still struggled with control, walking nine but stranded the majority. The Griffins lost 3-0 to the Tommies and dropped to 0-6 but the light bulb went on that WE* really can compete if we follow our book of pitching well, receiving it well and finding a timely hit.

If it were easy everyone would do it, so we fall again after St. Thomas to a good Buena Vista team. We again had good moments but not enough. Fontbonne again showed signs of no quitting and the energy only increased to win. Well that happened against an excellent North Central team when a new hero arose in junior pitcher Michelle Boyer. We actually out-executed a team for the first time and got our first win for WE, WOW! Well the good would continue as we followed up with a win against another top program in Carthage and Leonard, up to her old tricks, gave up three hits and one earned run while striking out 12.  She had help at the plate as the Griffins went long three times, with Melanie Russo, Samantha Brown and Lindsay Schaefer each hittiner their first of the season. Wow was the team ready now and the coaching staff was really starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. 

Next up for Fontbonne was UW-Steven's Point with Michelle Boyer again picking up innings while Schaefer was resting her arm. Boyer turned in a gem of a game and was taken out in the seventh inning with a 4-2 lead. The Griffins collapsed in the seventh and Steven's Point tied and eventually won in eight innings, scoring all their runs with two outs. It was a tough loss, probably the toughest of the season, but again these young ladies walked away with their heads up and ready to bring on their next opponent, UW-Whitewater. The Griffins were taking on another national power and once again Leonard came to the rescue. She went all seven again, gave up no runs and struck out 11 picking up her second win of the season. It was a really important game for WE and runs would be hard to come by and defensive mistakes couldn't happen. Fontbonne pulled through without mistakes and capitalized on a Whitewater error to take a one-run lead and Leonard wasn't going to be denied. The team's third win was a monster one for a now competitive team that wasn't backing down.

Again if it were easy everyone would do it and we followed up with undefeated No. 20-ranked St. Catherine the next morning, the team's seventh game in four days. When WE have a big game you ask your big-game pitcher to go head-to-head and Leonard again was at her best. The best hitting team we've seen to date and best team period to date, Leonard kept us in it, matching their No. three-ranked pitcher pitch-for-pitch. A Griffin error allowed St. Kate's to score a run and their best hitter followed with an insurance run. Leonard ran out of gas in the sixth and left the bases loaded for Boyer. Boyer fielded two ground balls for force outs at home while the defense snared a line drive to escape the inning. Fontbonne threatened in the bottom of the sixth but couldn't come up big until freshman Emelia Modglin hit her first homer of the season in the seventh and we cut the lead to one, showing again that we can play all seven innings. Fontbonne got a base hit by shortstop Courtney Kedroski to really put the pressure on, but fell just short on giving St. Kate's their first lost of the season.

What do good teams do after tough losses, is they rebound and play harder. Well bring on Wisconsin-Oshkosh, who in latest polls received votes trying to get in the NFCA's top 25.  After a tough beginning, the Griffins' trailed 5-0 to win 6-5 and another hero freshman Maddy Strickland came to the rescue. She picked up for Boyer who started on the mound and shut down a good hitting team and then provided a two-run dinger to give us the lead. All we had to do is get the last three outs with a one-run lead and that we did...closing out an outstanding 4-4 Florida trip.

Our start of our season is one of the toughest in the country, if not the toughest, and while we began as very young and inexperienced we ended feeling much older and with a little swagger in our walk. Our young nine freshman were solid on the week, while our older ones provided excellent leadership and most definitely led by example. So WE are climbing out of a deep hole and sit at 4-9 but the quality of play is on the rise and this group is fun to watch. They are swinging good bats up and down the lineup and defense will get better as we continue on. When we get to good old fashioned dirt (instead of Florida clay) for our defense and the pitching/catching provides the backbone of our program, WE will be tough to beat. The best part is when someone didn't have it someone else picked them up and as I've been saying lately, I'm really starting to like these kids!

*WE is in reference the Fontbonne softball team