Senior Sarah Reeves never had the preseason accolades or the .400 batting average that her fellow upperclassman Carly Normandin has, but no player stepped up more since the start of the Atlantic 10 tournament than Reeves.
The first baseman homered in five of the six postseason games for the Massachusetts softball team while raising her average to .356. Although she’s always been a source of power for UMass, she spent most of March and the first half of April struggling with her swing.
After a solid first month where she started the season with three home runs and a .289 average on March 7, she dipped to a season-low .258 against Long Beach State where she went 0-for-3. It was the fourth time she went without a hit in six games.
A week later, Reeves found her swing temporarily against George Washington as she pounded the Colonials with a 5-for-5 performance in Game 1 and recorded her first home run since March 7 in Game 2. However, she still wasn’t playing as well as she wanted, as her average sputtered to .274.
Two weeks later, she helped the Minutewomen (42-8-1) get passed Boston University, 7-5, with two home runs.
UMass coach Elaine Sortino explained after the April 13 game that Reeves spent the past few weeks working on her swing, which made the difference in defeating the Terriers on the road.
“We did a couple things, made a few adjustments in her timing, and it affected her tremendously,” Sortino said.
Since making those adjustments, she hasn’t gone hitless in back-to-back games since helping her team defeat BU and became more comfortable with her swing just in time for the playoffs.
During UMass’ First Round duel with Saint Joseph’s, Reeves added extra insurance on an otherwise slow day offensively with two home runs and aided her team to a 3-0 victory.
The next day, Reeves help put the Minutewomen in front with a two-run homer during their Semifinal with Fordham. The Rams needed a three-run shot in the end in order to put the Maroon and White in the Loser’s Bracket.
She homered again later that day against Charlotte while going 2-for-4 to help lift UMass to a matchup against the Rams once again for the Championship.
Reeves, who eventually earned tournament honors as the Most Valuable Player, once again struck first for UMass to give her team a 1-0 lead in the first inning. But this time, the Minutewomen held on for the victory and an automatic bid in the NCAA tournament.
“When you’re in the zone, when you’re feeling good at the plate, [the ball] always looks a little bit bigger,” Reeves said after UMass won the A-10 tournament.
Reeves finished the tournament with five home runs, 10 runs batted in and a .533 average.
She now comes into the NCAA tournament with the second-highest home run total (13) in the Amherst Regional next to Arizona State shortstop Katelyn Boyd (15).
The NCAA tournament is nothing new to the Minutewomen’s first baseman.
This weekend will mark her fourth straight NCAA Regional tournament, all of which were in Amherst.
Seven of Reeves’s home runs came at home this season, so if the UMass Softball Complex is having any effect on her bat, she should continue putting the ball over the fence when her team needs her this weekend.
Adam Miller can be reached at [email protected].
