Loretto, Pa. - The 35th season of Saint Francis softball was supposed to be a celebration of the program's progress cemented with a fourth straight NEC Conference title and topped off with placement in the NCAA Regionals. Alas, COVID-19 rose up like a rise ball to put a halt to the entire 2020 season, but an appreciation of the program's path can still be done.
Saint Francis University started softball in 1986 with 16 players and Coach Tom "Huck" Cicero at the helm. The program began with a 3-2 defeat to Juniata but, already displaying trademark grit, the Red Flash rebounded in the second game to win 5-4. Another notable game included a 4-3 win over in-state rival Robert Morris. The final record was 6-21 but the seeds of future success were planted.
By 1988, the third season of competition, Cicero led the program to its first winning season. SFU went 19-16 along with two wins in the ECAC Metro Tournament. The 1989 team proved success was not a lucky blooper by going 17-10 in 1989 and posting a 3-0 mark against Robert Morris.
The early nineties witnessed the team's entry in the Northeast Conference and some uneven times despite the presence of SFU Hall of Fame member Lexi Chamberlain. In 1998, under Coach Rudy "Skip" Galayda, the program had its best season to date, posting a 7-2-1 mark in NEC play and 33-17-1 overall. The 33 wins remain the third highest total in program history. Spectacular individual performances powered the team. Patricia Galayda set the SFU single-season ERA record with a microscopic 0.88 mark. Stacy Trice sped her way around the base paths for the NCAA lead in triples with 13. It was a magical season that ended in appropriately epic circumstances. Due to pouring rain, the NEC Tournament saw 11 games played in one day until the wee hours of 1 am. Battling the elements, the Red Flash advanced to the championship game before losing 7-5.
The next five seasons witnessed five coaches with rollercoaster records. Two winning seasons were accomplished: 22-20 in 2000 and 28-24-1 in 2002. The 2002 team won two NEC Tournament games before falling 2-0 to then-NEC member UMBC. No SFU player or fan dared to think it, but those were to be the last NEC Tournament games until 2008. After two more head coaching stints, Sabrina Lane was hired in 2007.
The first season was a rebuilding year, but season two in 2008 beheld a 25-33 record and an 11-6 NEC mark ,good enough to punch a ticket to the NEC Tournament. The Red Flash won the first game 4-1 but lost a pair of 4-3 games to end the run. Lane coached for three more seasons until she was replaced by Jennifer Patrick-Swift.
In 2014, in her third season, the Red Flash went 26-23 for the first winning season since 2002. The next step was returning to the NEC Tournament. That was accomplished in 2016. A 34-24 overall record was nice, but the 13-3 NEC mark was the treat. Unfortunately, an eerie repeat of 1998 awaited. The weather was not as mercurial, but the softball Gods had a different trick of torment. Once again, the Red Flash beat Robert Morris in the first meeting, but the second loss to the Colonials was a 5-4 defeat in 15 innings to end championship dreams.
Not daunted and utilizing a Home Run Mindset, the Red Flash exploded for the greatest season in program and NEC history by winning 49 games against 11 losses. The team swept rival Penn State, took down Texas Tech, and nearly beat ranked Baylor. The NEC was helpless before the bombardment as the team completed the first undefeated record in NEC play going 16-0 in regular season competition and 3-0 in the NEC Tournament. The blasts continued in the Tucson Regional as the Red Flash earned the university's first NCAA win in any sport with an 8-4 beating of New Mexico State powered by Sierra McKee's (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) grand slam.
The 2018 season did not reach the same heights, but the peak was still plenty high. A 39-19 record included another sweep of Penn State along with a win over Iowa State. Once again, the NEC was powerless against the Red Flash bats and pitching. A 22-4 destruction of NEC foe LIU Brooklyn was the headliner. With three straight wins in the NEC Tournament, SFU went 19-0 against NEC competition for the second straight season. Another Sierra McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) grand slam, this time against Sacred Heart in the NEC Tournament, ensured the 19-0 mark. The NCAA repeated the pattern by sending the Red Flash to Tucson. This time, SFU dropped a 1-0 heartbreaker to Arizona and fell 11-5 to Mississippi State.
Patrick-Swift departed for NC State after the 2018 season and Jessica O'Donnell replaced her. While O'Donnell inherited a senior-laden squad on the hitting side, the transfer of the pitching staff led to a predicted third-place finish in the NEC. Cobbling together a staff of three freshmen and a converted shortstop to pair with one of the best hitting seasons in SFU history, the Red Flash battled its way back to the NEC Tournament.
Individual highlights of the 2019 season were numerous. Mekenzie Saban (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) collected 23 doubles to finish third in the NCAA and to set the SFU and NEC single-season record. Hayley Norton (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) set SFU and NEC records in career home runs and RBIs. Additionally, Norton rewrote the SFU record for career hits, a mark that was also second in NEC history. Cheyenne McKee (DuBois, Pa./DuBois) set the SFU and NEC record for career runs scored.
Unlike the last two seasons, the Red Flash did not host at the friendly confines of Red Flash Softball Field, but ventured up to the cigar box stadium of LIU Brooklyn where the host Blackbirds hadn't lost a single game during the season.
At the "Birdcage," the Red Flash raided the nest and stole the eggs. After winning the first two games of the tournament over Sacred Heart and LIU Brooklyn, they were set up for the final day. LIU Brooklyn stayed alive by 3beating SFU 6-1 to set up a winner-take-all championship game. Saint Francis jumped out to an 8-0 lead and held on tight. With the tying run at the plate, freshman pitcher Christina Clark (Avon, Ohio/Avon High School) induced a soft lineout to senior Mikayla Bower (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport) at shortstop and with one tight squeeze, the Red Flash had their third straight title. Two hard-fought losses in the Ann Arbor Regional couldn't dampen the joy of the "Fightin' Fifteen" of 2019.
Despite the short-circuited 2020 season, the future is bright for SFU softball. Coach O'Donnell has a national recruiting plan, the team has become one of the powerhouses in the NEC, the alumni base is energized, and there is a young core of talent primed to replace the legends that won three straight titles. The last 35 seasons have seen it all under the sun from NCAA records to devastating defeats, to triumphant victories, to school records, and more exciting softball events. The next 35 years are filled with promise.
