By Tim Robertson
Consistency and confidence matters for the Pride softball team and it lies within the chalked circle as coach Bill Edwards returns his starting rotation from a season ago and bolsters the bullpen with the addition of what he called a Marino Rivera-type pitcher.
Edwards brought back the pitchers, who combined to win every game for the Pride in 2006, and sent them to the weight room to work on conditioning and stamina. Sophomore Kayleigh Lotti – who went 18-10 last year – and junior Courtney Oliver – 14-7 – hit the weight room in the off-season, and they agree the work will pay its dividends and will amount to many wins.
“Those two, along with Joanna Kralowetz, are our three strongest in the weight room,” Edwards said.
Lotti said the extra work has increased her stamina, thus keeping her in the game longer. Four of the six games pitched by the South Attleboro, Mass. native have been complete games. She enters this weekend with a team low 1.35 ERA.
“I can go longer in games,” Lotti said. “I’ve run a lot more and lifted a lot more. I think, strength wise, I can close out a game.”
Oliver agreed, adding she doesn’t get tired in the middle innings like last season.
“I can see myself working through the lulls. I’m stronger, not only physically, but mentally too,” she said.
But throwing deeper into games is no longer vital, because, as Edwards explained, his starters now have confidence with who is in the bullpen.
Edwards has thrown Kralowetz, a sophomore, into the mix early on in the season to close out games.
“Knowing someone is in the bullpen that can bail them out allows them to work harder and not pace themselves,” he said.
The starters enjoy the help from the sophomore who appeared in only 11 games last season, but has pitched in seven of the team’s 12 games.
“[Kralowetz] closes almost every game for us and she has been doing awesome,” Oliver said.
After a year of experience in the rotation, Oliver and Lotti have since studied and fine-tuned their existing pitches, and Oliver went a step further, adding a curveball to her repertoire.
“I added one pitch to my sequence, but I really wanted to sharpen up my other ones,” said Oliver.
Pointing out the benefits of the Pride’s potentially deadly one-two punch, Lotti said they complement each other well.
“[Oliver] is a good inside screwball pitcher and I’m a good outside pitcher,” she said as she smiled about having Oliver around in 2008 as well.
Beyond the technical and physical improvements made by the pair, both also became strong mentally.
“With the physical conditioning, comes mental toughness,” Edwards explained. “They’re beginning to understand the routine they have to go through before they throw each pitch.”
The mental toughness allows Oliver and Lotti not to be fearful of throwing certain pitches.
“They aren’t afraid of throwing the ball anywhere right now, which is pretty neat,” the coach added.
Gone are the jitters of competing at the college level and playing in the NCAA tournament.
“I feel a little more relieved. I’ve had that one year [of experience],” Lotti said. “Last year I was probably a little bit more nervous and I didn’t know what to expect.”
Oliver agreed, adding she has more confidence this year than she did in 2006, making pitching a lot easier.
Edwards concurred with the improvement in the confidence level of his two starting pitchers.
“They have confidence in their stuff and challenging the hitter,” he said. “Last year there was always a little bit of doubt, a little bit of inexperience, a little bit of ‘I’m not quite sure of what I’m doing here’ and this year it is different.”
Coming off of a five-game set in which the Pride dropped all five, Lotti and Oliver combined to give up just four earned runs. Two of the Pride’s five games ended in 1-0 losses to nationally ranked Southern Illinois University and the University of Michigan.
“[Close losses] are frustrating [as a pitcher], but I also hit, so I can’t get that frustrated, if I’m not getting the job done either,” Oliver said. “But they are hard to swallow.”

Pride head coach Bill Edwards will look for staff aces Kayleigh Lotti and Courtney Oliver to lead the Pride into the playoffs.