The Woods

Softball team works VIP room, raises money

By Amira Jaradat
Interim Editor-in-Chief

Lucas Oil Stadium was packed. More than 68,000 people had turned up for Super Bowl XLVI on Feb. 5 in Indianapolis. And while the women of Le Fer congregated around a television in Sullivan Lounge, some of their fellow Woodsies were much closer to the action.
The Saint Mary-of-the-Woods softball team was inside the stadium – not to watch, but to work.
The SMWC Pomeroys spent Super Bowl Sunday working in the stadium’s VIP room, hoping to earn enough money to fund a trip to Florida for a tournament during spring break.
“It was basically catering,” said Libby Wright, senior. “We were banquet servers. I was in charge of a buffet line.”
Their day started with an early trip to the “old airport,” where school buses were waiting to take them downtown. They were dropped off a couple of blocks away from the Indiana Convention Center, where they lined up among the crowd to receive their credentials.
“They set up a restricted perimeter around the Lucas Oil Stadium so that you couldn’t get in unless you had the credentials,” Wright said. Each person’s ID featured different colors, letters and shapes, indicating the different areas workers were authorized to enter.
After putting on vests with a “Super Bowl” insignia and their credentials, the softball team headed to the VIP room, where they would be working the pre-game and post-game parties.
“The room we were in was beautiful,” said Leah Miller, senior. “It was insanely large. It was like three O’Shaughnessys.”

Photo provided by Kelsey Rosselli

The VIP room, which held 3,000 people, was decorated according to a “Football Winter Wonderland” theme, including snow-covered turf.
“Everything was white. They had an ice rink in there and they had ice skaters performing,” Miller said.
There was also a stage for live musical performance and an autograph station where Wright spotted Eli Manning, New York Giants quarterback, before the game.
The VIP room opened for the pre-game party at 2 p.m. and then closed at 5:30 p.m. before the 6:30 p.m. kickoff.
“We served sliders, miniature hot dogs and chicken and we were in charge of taking them out and putting them on hot plates,” Wright said. During the actual game and in the lull between pre- and post-game parties, the servers were told they had half an hour to eat anything they could. “I didn’t eat anything at my station because I had been looking at it for too long,” Wright said.
“We got to see the halftime show on the screens, but we were pretty much working the entire time,” Miller said. The team was busy flipping the room, preparing it for the crowd that would be soon coming for the post-game party. “We were scrubbing these white tables, we were trying to clean the floor and the chairs and we had to switch out all the food,” said Miller. “I don’t understand how they could be so messy,” she added.
“We were told that these people paid a lot so we needed to give them a good experience,” said Wright. The VIP room guests were a varied bunch, some with painted faces. “They weren’t like all in suits or anything like that, which is what I expected. It was like a typical tailgate party in a really nice room,” she said.
Following the game, the second party of the day didn’t end until midnight.  Near the end, the exhaustion pushed the team to get creative and entertain themselves by doing a little line dace. “We were trying to enjoy it,” said Miller. “We wanted the time to go as quickly as possible at the end.”  They finished cleaning the room at 12:30 and by the time they had gotten back to campus, it was 3am.
“If you had walked out of the room we were in, we were maybe a hundred feet from the run-in tunnel,” said Libby Wright, senior. “We walked by the locker rooms. We were right there.”  However, despite their proximity, Wright said she didn’t feel as though she was really at the Super Bowl. “The room’s under the stadium, but it was so quiet. Even during the game, you couldn’t hear anything,” said Wright.
“It was still a cool experience,” said Wright. “Not that I would want to do it again, but I’m glad I did it once.”

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By Danya Long
Editor-in-Chief

The Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College softball team finished its fall season with a record of 9 wins and 7 losses. The Pomeroys went on the road in October and came away with a 5-3 record against the competition.
On Oct. 2, The Pomeroys traveled to Dupo, Ill., for the Diamond Sports Fall Ball tournament. The first game put them up against Illinois Central College, and proved successful for SMWC as they came away with the first win of the tournament.
The first two innings were scoreless for SMWC, while ICC put up one run.
In the third inning, ICC scored another run, making the score 2-0. SMWC struck back with a run of its own.
Sophomore Ashtynn Masterson walked to start off the inning, and freshman Shelby Barnett doubled to leftfield to drive home Masterson.
The fourth inning showed a stronger offensive Pomeroy team. Senior Aubrey Stich led off the inning with a walk. Sophomore Melena Minning hit a double to centerfield, scoring Stich after she advanced on a passed ball.
Another walk was issued to sophomore Leah Miller, followed by a single to right by sophomore Garnett Stenger that brought home Minning.
Senior Chelsee Gerber reached on an error by the second baseman, and then Barnett was issued a walk that scored Stenger. SMWC’s last run of the inning came from a single hit down the third baseline by sophomore Kelsey Rosselli that scored Gerber.
In the fifth inning, the Pomeroys started the inning with two strikeouts; Miller then singled, and Stenger drove her home with a single to left.
ICC came back and scored one run in the 7th, but couldn’t overcome the deficit. The Pomeroys won with a score of 7-4.
The second game of the tournament was a close game, but ended in the Pomeroys first of two losses for the tournament, both to William Woods University.
SMWC struck first, scoring two runs in the first inning. Barnett started out by hitting a double, but got thrown out at home on a single to right field by Stich. Junior Sarah Goelz singled and scored Stich after she stole a base and advanced on an error. A single was hit to centerfield hit by junior Libby Wright, and then Rosselli reached base on an error that scored Goelz.
In the second inning, Gerber and Barnett both drew walks, followed by a single to left centerfield by senior Katelyn Tillotson that caused an error; the error scored both Gerber and Barnett.
The Pomeroy offense struggled in the last half of the game, not scoring another run. William Woods University took advantage of their opportunity and scored a total of five runs in two innings, making the final score 5-4, with SMWC on the losing end.
The third game of the tournament was against Parkland College, and added another win to the Pomeroys’ record.
In the third inning alone, SMWC scored five of their six runs, four of which came from a grand slam hit by Goelz. The sixth run came in the fifth inning when Gerber singled and was hit in on a double to the outfield by Barnett.
Parkland only managed to plate four runs, resulting in a 6-4 win for the Pomeroys.
SMWC took on William Woods University for the second time of the tournament in their fourth and final game for the weekend.
The offense for the Pomeroys struggled even more this game, with eight strikeouts and no runs scored.
William Woods went on to score five runs in the game, not letting up in the final game. The final score of 5-0 gave the Pomeroys a 2-2 record for the tournament.
Next, SMWC traveled to DePauw University for a doubleheader on Oct. 7. Winning by only a single run, the game proved to be a close one for both teams.
Barnett and Tillotson scored the only two runs for the Pomeroys in the game, both hitting doubles and then scoring on an error in the fourth inning.
DePauw managed to get one run across in the sixth inning, but it wasn’t enough to win the game. The 2-1 final score gave SMWC a 7-6 record on the season so far.
Game two of the doubleheader against Depauw was filled with hotter Pomeroy bats than the first.
The offense was able to score one run in the first inning, three runs in the second inning, and then topped it off with another three runs in the seventh inning.
Barnett scored two runs for SMWC, including a two-run homerun in the seventh. The DePauw offense was only able to put one run on the board in the second inning.
The Pomeroys swept the doubleheader with a final score of 7-1 and a season record of 8-6 going into the last tournament of the fall season.
SMWC traveled to Bloomington for the Indiana University Classic on Oct. 9. The first game was against Indiana University Southeast.
The Pomeroys scored a quick run in the first inning due to two errors that allowed Barnett to score. They wouldn’t score again until the sixth inning, when Stich hit a leadoff solo homerun.
SMWC scored a second run in the inning on a double hit by Rosselli and an error that allowed Minning to score.
IU Southeast managed to get a single run in the seventh inning, but still couldn’t score enough. The final score of 3-1 gave the Pomeroys another win for the season.
The final game of the fall season for SMWC was a rough one against Indiana University.
While the Pomeroys started out strong by scoring three quick runs in the first inning, that would be the extent of their runs.
IU dominated the offense, scoring 18 runs in the game. A final score of 18-3 left the Pomeroys with a final record of 9-7 for the fall season.
Gerber showed her pride in the team’s victorious season. “Overall we had a good fall season. Our team has a lot of potential. I look forward to a successful spring season,” said Gerber.
SMWC is scheduled to begin its regular spring season in February.

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By Danya Long
Editor-in-Chief

The Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College softball team was in full swing in their fall season, playing nine games in the span of one week. Out of the nine games, they won five and lost four.
First on the schedule was a trip to the Southern Indiana Classic in Boonville on Sept. 19. The first game of the day was against Olney Central College. Coming out of the game with a 9-1 win in only five innings, the Pomeroys started out the week strong. In the first inning, senior Aubrey Stich singled and was hit in on junior Sarah Goelz’s first home run of the season. Olney put up their only run of the game in the first inning. The second inning started with senior Chelsea Baker hitting a double to centerfield, followed by another double to left field hit by freshman Carly Painter. Painter picked up and RBI on her double. Sophomore Melinda Bauer doubled to left field next, and then senior Chelsee Gerber and freshman Shelby Barnett both hit into fielders’ choices. Sophomore Kelsey Rosselli added a single to right field that scored Barnett. In the third inning, junior Libby Wright hit the Pomeroys’ second home run of the game, making the score 6-1 going into the fourth. The fifth inning started with a walk issued to Baker, then a single to left by Painter. Gerber singled to center, followed by a double to center by Barnett that scored three runs. Because of the run rule, the game was cut to only five innings with a score of 9-1.
Next up in the tournament was SMWC vs. Rend Lake College. The Pomeroys struggled a little at first, allowing Rend Lake to score three runs in the second inning. The fourth inning started with junior Leah Miller hitting an infield single to shortstop. Sophomore Melana Minning singled to center, followed by a single to right by sophomore Ashtynn Masterson. Sophomore pitcher Garnett Stenger singled to left field and brought in Miller. Rend Lake went on to score two more runs in the fourth. Senior Katelyn Tillotson led off the fifth inning with a single to center. Barnett found centerfield as well with a double. Tillotson scored on an infield ball hit by Goelz. Miller then doubles to left and scores Barnett. Rend Lake scored another two runs in the inning, making the score 8-3. Two more runs came for SMWC in the sixth inning on a walk for Masterson, a centerfield single by Gerber, and a double to left by freshman Gina Furrey. The final inning started with Stich reaching on an error. Miller singled to center, followed by an infield play initiated by Minning. Masterson drew another walk, along with a walk for sophomore Jennie Faker that allowed Stich to score. Gerber hit an infield ball that brought in Miller. Furrey brought in two runs on an error. The final score of 9-8 resulted in a close win for SMWC in their second game of the tournament.
The final game of the tournament for SMWC was against Wabash Valley College. Once again, the Pomeroys had a rough start. Wabash Valley scored the first runs of the game, putting up two in the first inning. In the third inning, Barnett got on the board for the Pomeroys with a solo home run. Wabash Valley went on to score one run each in the fourth and fifth innings. SMWC scored another run in the sixth inning, led off by a walk issued to junior Jessica Jonas. Bauer singled to right, and a single to center by Barnett scored Jonas. Stich started off the seventh inning with a double to center, followed by a walk to Masterson and a double to right field by Miller that scored two more runs. Wabash Valley scored the winning run in the seventh inning, clutching the win with a score of 5-4.
On SMWC’s homecoming, the Pomeroys hosted Lincoln Trail College in a doubleheader. The Pomeroys came away with two wins. The first game resulted in a 6-1 win and the second in an 8-2 win. These wins gave SMWC a record of 4-5.
The following day, Sept. 26, SMWC traveled to Indiana State University for a fall ball tournament. In the first game, they faced off against Kirkwood Community College. Neither team got on the board until the fourth inning. In that inning, the Pomeroys led off with Barnett’s single to left field. A walk was issued to Stich, then Rosselli hit a double to right to score Barnett and Stich. In the sixth inning Barnett led off again with a walk. Stich reached on an error, and Rosselli hit a single to shortstop that scored Barnett. Kirkwood scored their first run in the sixth and added another run in the seventh. The final scored ended with a 3-2 win for SMWC.
The second game of the ISU tournament for SMWC was against Indiana Tech. The Pomeroys had a rough time with the Indiana Tech pitching, only getting two hits the whole game. A final score of 9-0 handed SMWC their second loss of the week.
The Pomeroys traveled to Dupo, Ill. this weekend for the Diamond Sports Fall Ball tournament. The results were not in at press time. They will be posted on The Woods newspaper website at a later date.
On Oct. 7 SMWC will travel to DePauw University, followed by a trip to Bloomington for their final games of the fall season.

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By Danya Long

Editor-in-Chief

The Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College softball team held a round-robin tournament on Sept. 12 to open their fall season. The Pomeroys fell to Olney Central College andDanville Community College with scores of 6-7 and 8-9, respectively.

SMWC faced off against Olney Central for their first game of the season. The score remained at zero apiece until the third inning, when both teams put up their first runs. The visiting Olney team crossed the plate three times in the top half of the inning, but the Pomeroys added a run of their own with their at bats. Senior Katelyn Tillotson started the inning off with a single to right field; senior Chelsee Gerber came in to pinch run for Tillotson. An error allowed Gerber to advance to second base; a hit by sophomore Kelsey Rosselli caused an error, and Gerber ran to third base. A single to left field by freshman Shelby Barnett drove in Gerber and scored the first run for the Pomeroys.

Olney came back and score two more runs in the fourth inning.

The fifth inning saw SMWC score five runs and take back the lead. Senior Chelsea Baker led off the inning on a hit by pitch; Gerber came in to run for Baker. Junior Leah Miller singled to right and Gerber scored on throwing errors. Freshman Carly Painter hit a single to left first that scored Miller. Another SMWC single, hit by freshman Gina Furrey, scored Painter for the third run of the inning. Tillotson drew a walk, and then Barnett doubled to left to score Furrey and Tillotson.

With a score of 5-6 in favor of the Pomeroys going into the sixth inning, Olney didn’t give up. They went on to score two more runs, making the final score 7-6 and handing SMWC their first loss.

In the second game of the day, the Pomeroys took on Danville Community College. In the first inning, Danville scored five runs and took a quick lead. The second inning saw much of the same for Danville, as they scored four more runs. Before the end of the second inning, SMWC put up five runs. Sophomore Melana Minning singled to right field and stole two bases, allowing herself to score on a single to centerfield by Tillotson. Painter singled to center, followed by sophomore Melinda Bauer reaching on an error. Gerber added another single to center and also picked up an RBI.

The Pomeroys picked up another run, as Rosselli reached on an error by the second baseman. Goelz singled to right and Rosselli stole home. Another two runs came for SMWC in the seventh inning. Minning singled to center, followed by junior Jessica Jonas getting hit by a pitch. Bauer then singled to right field and scored Minning.

The final score of 9-8 in favor of Danville handed SMWC their second loss of the season.

The Pomeroys traveled to Booneville, Ind., on Sunday to play in the Southern Indiana Classic. They had not yet played at press time, but check out the newspaper’s website for results from the tournament.

On Sept. 25, SMWC will host Lincoln Trail Community College at home at 11 a.m.

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