A Chat With Softball Coach Linda Kalafatis – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/18/1999 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 18, 1999
Columbus, Ohio – After a sluggish start, the Ohio State softball team is rolling with wins in six out of their last seven games and two tournament championships. On Sunday, the Buckeyes begin a three-day series in California against Long Beach State, No. 4 Washington and Cal-State Fullerton. Head Coach Linda Kalafatis sat down and talked about the progress of her team.
Just 13 games into the 1999 season, are you happy with where this team is at?
“I think we’re on schedule for where are team should be. Could we be further ahead? Yes, but we could also be further behind. I do feel we had our best showing of the year at the Kentucky Invitational (March 6-7) and played very tough especially with the frigid weather conditions. We showed the most maturity in this tourney. Kentucky was the tourney where I felt we represented ourselves the best. “As for where the team could be, it’s hard to say because of the injury situation. It’s been a tough situation all year for us and it seems to be getting even tougher now as we’re about to head to California and play against some really good teams. And the Big Ten season is right around the corner. “We are now down three second basemen from the beginning of the year. We have resorted to bringing in an outfielder which consequently takes away from that position. I think programs go through this type of adversity all of the time and we’ll see how resilient we’ll be. Our older players have to be leaders and our younger ones will get the opportunity to produce. I’m optimistic. The thing we have to do is not dwell on the injuries. We still have people who are filling in that can do an excellent job.”
If you had to pick one person, who has really stepped up their game at critical points this year?
“I would have to say the person that has stepped up the most has been our pitcher Meaghan Robinson (Sr., Naples, Fla.). She’s been awesome! Her record (4-3, 42 Ks, 0.77 ERA) does not really tell the whole story. If we had our offense on track when the season opened, we could have won every game she’s thrown for us. She hasn’t thrown all this week because of what looks like a strained chest muscle and we’re a little nervous about it, but we couldn’t have asked for more from her this year except to keep it up!”
Who has been the biggest surprise this early season?
“If there is any one else that has given us more than we thought – I would have to say Stacy Roth (Fr., Wauseon, Ohio). She is someone that wasn’t really even in the picture this early on in her career but she put herself in the picture. She has hit well from the beginning and when we needed someone to step in, when we were down two outfielders, she did big time. “She has the ability to pick things up quickly and she has really benefited from the playing experience. That, along with her athletic ability, has given us more than we expected this early on.”
How is this team coming together?
“We need to hit, there’s no mistake about it. Because we just don’t have the depth at pitching. There are a lot of young ladies that cold help our pitching staff out without ever having to throw a pitch. That will be the determining element in our season.”
