No one will ever question Rose Barre’s heart or character. Or her swing. Or her vocal cords.
Her record — that’s a different story.
Now in her senior season, Barre’s goal is very clear: all she wants to do is win. She doesn’t care about her legacy or making the Hall of Fame. Her only concern is carrying the Binghamton softball team to its first-ever trip to the postseason. But that’s no easy task.
Even though Barre has always been among the leaders on the Bearcats in virtually every hitting category, her success at the plate hasn’t translated to victories. The four-year starting shortstop has done everything the coaching staff has asked, but her team never finished America East play above .500.
“You do the workouts, you get up at 7 a.m., you run, you’re doing the conditioning, you’re doing the lifting, you’re doing everything that the program is asking you to do, and at some point you just want it to pay off,” said head coach Holly Brown.
The program is only in its fifth year at the Division I level, but Barre has always been surrounded by plenty of talent — on the mound and in the batting order. The Bearcats were actually in the playoff hunt in 2003 and 2004 until the last couple of series, making each offseason even more frustrating.
“You can only control your own destiny, and control what you do,” Brown explained. “We may play every game to the top of our ability and we still may lose, and I think that’s the hardest part to swallow.”
On paper, leading her team to the playoffs this season looks like Barre’s biggest challenge yet. The Bearcats were picked to finish seventh in the America East preseason poll and have started non-conference play with a 3-12 record.
The addition of eight new faces gives the squad plenty of depth at every position, but there are still major pitching concerns. Sophomore starter Patty Egan injured her pitching shoulder and will take a medical redshirt this season, putting a greater burden on senior Katie Hansen to give her a team a chance to win every time she’s on the mound. Hansen has a career ERA of 3.26 and is fourth all-time on Binghamton’s strikeout list, but the Bearcats will need another reliable pitcher to emerge.
“Obviously [Egan] made an impact last year, and with a year under her belt we were looking forward to her and Katie pitching together this year,” Brown said. “[But] she couldn’t pitch at 100 percent so we had to do what was best for her.”
Barre is joined on the infield by senior second baseman and cleanup hitter Nicole Vitello, who holds the school’s single-season record with seven home runs. Senior co-captain Lauren Verrusio will anchor the outfield, and former all-rookie team selections Devin Glezen and Sara Eppolito will fill in at several other positions.
“I have confidence in every single freshman, all the way up,” Barre said. “I have confidence in every single player on this team. The best ball we could play will take us to the America East playoffs.”
The Bearcats will continue to prepare for conference play Friday when they travel to Fordham. BU’s scheduled home game against Army tomorrow has been canceled.
“When we get to conference play, we’re hoping that we have the confidence to just play our game,” Brown said. “If people beat us because they’re a little better, then they’re going to beat us, but we just don’t want to beat ourselves this year.”