The McMaster fast pitch season is in full swing, here is a summary of the team’s results as they’ve progressed throughout the year
The McMaster fast pitch team has kicked off their season, competing in a number of games where they’ve accumulated both losses and wins. In their opening weekend on Sept. 7, the team lost twice against York University, but were able to turn it around as they captured two wins against Queen’s University the following day.
The team went on to face the University of Windsor on Sept. 14 in two back to back games. Despite increasing their roster size to account for the high volume of games, the Marauders were unable to secure a win against the Lancers. The Marauders lost with a score of one to eight in their first game, with the second game seeing the Marauders lose in a one to six scoreline.
Despite increasing their roster size to account for the high volume of games, the Marauders were unable to produce a win against the Lancers.
The following day, the Marauders took on the University of Guelph in another back to back series. The Marauders were able to earn themselves a narrow win in the first match, with a score of eight to seven. The team’s second match would see them lose with a score of three to seven.
The week after, the Marauder's had a packed weekend beginning Sept. 20 when they first faced off against Waterloo, followed by Guelph and Laurier for a total of six games in a three day span.
The first two games against the Waterloo Warrior on Sept. 20 started the weekend off on a high for the Marauders. The team was able to secure two wins against the Waterloo Warriors, first with a score of five to three and the second game finishing with a score of nine to one.
The Marauders then headed to the University of Guelph to face a familiar opponent in another two game series on Sept. 21. The team lost their first game against the Gryphons, but were able to secure a win with a score of five to three during the second game.
To finish their busy weekend on Sept 22, the Mauraders traveled back to Waterloo to face the University of Laurier in a two game series. The Marauders seemingly did not have enough fuel to finish out the weekend on a high, as they lost both games to the Golden Hawks.
The Marauders would seemingly not have enough fuel to finish out the weekend on a high, as they lost in both games to the Golden Hawks.
The Marauders currently sit with a record of six wins and eight losses for this season, an improvement compared to the two wins and 18 losses the team finished with last year. The team will finish their regular season with a two game series against Brock University on Sept. 28 and Sept 29.
After only winning two games in the previous season, the McMaster fast pitch team believes they have revamped and have the depth to compete with the best
Coming into this season, the McMaster women’s fast pitch team hopes to improve upon its previous season of loses and near misses.. The team was only able to pick up two wins in the 2023 season, with multiple of their losses coming down to just a one point difference.
To achieve an overall better record throughout this year's season, the team has expanded its roster from 17 players in the previous year to 25 players in the current season. Shannon Critchlow, the second year team captain, elaborated on why this was done.
“This year we decided to take more players because there were a lot of injuries last year, and people with injuries were playing which is not fantastic. But now we have a really big team which is nice, we can train those people. And we only have one graduating this year, so we’re a fresh team with a new start,” said Critchlow.
This year we decided to take more players because there were a lot of injuries last year, and people with injuries were playing which is not fantastic. But now we have a really big team which is nice, we can train those people. And we only have one graduating this year, so we’re a fresh team with a new start.
Shannon Critchlow, team captain, Marauder's fast pitch.
This is in an effort to maintain the health of their players and ensure that those with injuries can rest when needed as well as to create depth and diversity in the team. The fast pitch season is one that can be seen as grueling , with games being played in a back to back fashion meaning games occur right after one another, often with many games in one weekend.
This could be seen in the Marauders' opening weekend game, as the team played in back to back games against York University on Sep. 7. The team’s two opening games resulted in losses for the Marauders, but the team gained vital takeaways to consider for their future games this season.
“I believe the first score was six to two [against York] and the second one was also very close. They were winning ten to three at the beginning, but we came back and we lost 11 to eight. This was with two different rosters, so it shows that both rosters are equally strong, and very well rounded,” said Critchlow.
I believe the first score was six to two (against York) and the second one was also very close. They were winning ten to three at the beginning, but we came back and we lost 11 to eight. This was with two different rosters, so it shows that both rosters are equally strong, and very well rounded.
Shannon Critchlow, team captain, Marauder's fast pitch.
On Sep. 8, the Marauders took on Queen's University. With numerous players able to share playing time in the day prior, the Marauders came into their second game day ready to play hard.
“We wanted to use the first couple of games to see what we needed to work on as a team. Which I think we did well because we came out strong against Queen’s the next day,” said Critchlow.
The team was able to pick up two wins in two games. Their first matchup against the Gaels saw the Marauders come away with a four to three win, while the second game ended with a score of six to four in favour of the Marauders.
As the Marauders progress into the season, the intensity of games and will pick up. They will face the University of Waterloo's Warriors, the Guelph Gryphons and Wilfrid Laurier's Golden Hawks in a three day time span, for which their large roster will be needed.
“Next weekend we have six games, we’re going to be playing Waterloo, Laurier and Guelph. So it will be a lot of traveling with a lot of games,” said Critchlow.
Soon the season will be winding down for the Marauder’s fast pitch team, as they will finish their regular season on Sep. 29. Stay tuned for the results of the coming games.
McMaster's fastpitch team rakes in two all-star nominations as regular season winds down
Beginning their season on Sept. 9, the Marauder women’s fastpitch team faced their first opponent, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, in a doubleheader match-up. Disappointing scorelines and losses in both games seemed to set the stage for the remainder of the team’s season.
As the year went on, the Marauders struggled to keep pace in their league. They finished the season with a record of two wins and 18 losses. The team’s record would leave them at the bottom of the Ontario University Softball leagues west division just below the University of Waterloo.
Their last-place finish kept the Marauders out of this year’s playoffs, where the Varsity Blues were able to clinch the gold medal. Despite the disappointing results, two Marauder athletes excelled this past season, winning themselves OUS All- Star honours.
The team’s two recipients of the award were Julie Bland and Eibhlis Hopkins. Bland and Hopkins are both in their second year on the team. Bland plays as the team’s pitcher while Hopkins also pitches and plays as an outfielder.
With at least three more years of eligibility for the two players, the Marauders fastpitch team will likely look to grow in the coming years. The team is led by head coach Manny Amaro, who has been a coach for the women’s fastpitch team since 2009.
For their season next fall, Amaro will likely look to employ Bland and Hopkin’s skills in the new year to help the team generate better results.
