Tim Downer

It’s that time of year; the crack of the bat, the chatter of the players and the fans cheering over a softball game.

If you’re driving around campus, that’s what your most likely to hear from the Northern Kentucky University’s Women’s Softball Team as they practice and play its way through the season.

The Norse have a .500 record (19-15 Overall, 4-4 Great Lakes Valley Conference) and brought in some big wins against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Quincy University and a series sweep of the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

The Norse also went to Orlando, Fla. for the Rebel Spring Games where they won nine of 12 games played over the course of the week.

This year’s team lacks the upper-class leadership of years past with only one player being older than a sophomore. When the team looks for leadership, it looks for it out of pitcher Amanda Smith, third baseman Cara Parker and infielder Rose Broderick.

Among these three players they stake claim in leading almost all the statistical categories that you can have in softball. Broderick, who is only a freshman, was recently named the GLVC player of the week.She had a huge week against Missouri-St. Louis and Quincy, batting .647, seven RBI, five runs, and three doubles. She is batting a .336 average second only to Smith and leads the Norse with six homeruns.

The success that the Norse has had this year is shown in the rankings that it has right now. That ranking is number six in the Great Lakes Region. In the region, Ferris State, who holds down the No. 2 spot, felt the sting of the Norse when they lost in Orlando 10-9.

With the team being young and lacking that much needed experience at the collegiate level, the Norse will still find a way to get things done this year.

With only 10 games to go in the regular season, it will look to finish strong and make a run into the Regional Tournament. The next time you can see the Norse in action at home is at 3 p.m. on April 10 against West Liberty in a doubleheader. Take the time to go out and support the women’s softball program and you will see what the Norse are really about.