By Tyler McCord, Staff Writer
Hofstra softball’s first baseman, Michele DePasquale, is on her way to another terrific season for the 34-8 Pride. Although it has been a great season so far, DePasquale is looking to cap it off like she did her freshman and sophomore years by winning one more CAA Championship, which is looking very promising. Prior to this season, Michele DePasquale has come a long way to find herself in the position she is in now. A history and secondary education major, DePasquale will return to Hofstra in the fall to do her student teaching; which she hopes will follow with a high school teaching job after her outstanding career at Hofstra. Although she is planning on becoming a history teacher, Michele is not a player you will be able to keep away from the diamond.
DePasquale developed her rhythm for the game at a young age, first by playing baseball, then making the switch to softball in the 9th grade. After playing four years at Camden Catholic High School in Cherry Hill, NJ, DePasquale moved on to Hofstra University.
“Hofstra is known for its national prominence and tradition of excellence,” explained DePasquale. “The coaching staff is absolutely awesome and the location is great. It’s close to the city and close to the beach.”
When Michele is not taking advantage of being in the city or at the beach, you can find her hanging out with her teammates, sleeping, or watching movies- preferably Sandlot.
“Our team does workouts together all the time,” said DePasquale. “Everyone does it which is awesome, and it shows that our work ethic, as a team, is great.” With a team that has only four seniors people forget how young this softball team really is. “The leadership is coming from the seniors by leading with example, and it is leadership that everyone buys into,” Coach Edwards stated. “Freshmen are not afraid to step up and speak their mind and we don’t have any captains, we have leaders.”
DePasquale is definitely a leader on and off the field. “She leads by example. She is the first one there and the last one to leave,” said Coach Edwards. “She makes the other players around her better and that is why she is so special.” This special senior was tied for leading the nation with the least strikeouts; three. Some players strike out three times in a game and DePasquale managed to strike out only three times over a span of forty-seven games.
When asked what steps she took over the offseason to improve after a phenomenal season DePasquale humbly gave the credit to her coaching staff for helping them get “stronger, bigger, and faster” and her team for those doing extra workouts together.
With all the extra workouts and 6 a.m. fall practices, DePasquale can only attribute one word to juggling softball and school; “tough”. “It is just tough,” DePasquale sighed. “I don’t know how I do it, but I just have to get it done.”Softball and schoolwork is tough alone, but in DePasquale’s case it is even harder. When travelling to games on the team bus, the star first baseman does not do work; she sits and watches movies due to motion sickness which makes the softball/schoolwork juggling act even harder than it already is.
Throughout forty-one games, so far, Michele is batting a team high .352 with 45 hits, 8 homeruns, and 29 RBI’s.
Opposing teams know this star senior is a threat at the plate, but what else is there to know? For a few fun facts, she loves seafood and country music. She is a competitor, so if she has to face any pitcher she would like to take on Jennie Finch, Monica Abbot, and Cat Osterman. For every game this year Michele makes sure she has her “game hair” ready along with every other superstitious Pride teammate. Besides many other things, after this is all said and done, DePasquale will miss her teammates and coaches on this long ride; hopefully she won’t get motion sickness when it is all said and done.
