The St. John’s Softball Team kicked off their fall season at home Sept. 21, ready to prepare for the regular season in the spring and to build on the program’s success over the recent years. Hosting Iona College and Fairleigh Dickinson University at Red Storm Field, the Red Storm lost to Iona by one (1-2), but turned around and beat FDU 5-3.
The following weekend, they played at LIU Post, and the results were similar; they split the two games they played, losing to Hofstra 5-4 due to a walk-off homerun in the seventh inning, but then turned around and beat LIU 5-0.
The losses didn’t dampen Head Coach Bob Guerriero’s spirits, saying “Fall ball is not about winning, it’s about learning.”
To do so, he made sure to get all the freshmen in and give them the opportunity to show their strengths. “My most experienced line up is not out there,” he remarked, “[Fall ball] is about learning for me as a coach who can do what and what their strongest positions are.”
Becoming a softball coach to teach his three daughters, Coach Bob Guerriero began his collegiate career at Seton Hall University. He joined the St. John’s coaching staff in August 2012 as an assistant coach, became associate head coach in the summer of 2015, and took on the head coach position in January of 2019.
Last season came to an abrupt end for the Red Storm, who, after clutching the regular season championship, with a 26-22 overall record and an impressive 14-4 conference record, lost in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament against Villanova University (4-6).
“We had our opportunities,” Guerriero stated “we just didn’t get the timely hit that we needed.”
With the 2018-2019 over, the seniors, Christina Melendez and Madison Morris, who were an instrumental part of the team, graduated, and Coach Guierrero admits that losing such important players will pose a challenge to the team.
“Christina had a good senior year in hitting,” he shared, and, about pitcher of the year Madison Morris, “losing her is losing 11 big east game wins. Someone is going to have to pick that up.”
That loss of Morris, and the youth on the pitching staff, is what the head coach believes will be their greatest challenge to overcome, stating “I feel good about our defense. I feel good about our hitting. I think our biggest challenge will be our inexperience in the circle.”
However, with multiple pitchers on the team, he isn’t overly concerned. “I think we have a good staff,” he says, referring to the pitchers, “I think we’ll be okay.” As far as winning, he announced that “No one’s happy until you get the ring that matters.”
St. John’s Softball returns home on Oct. 12th, for a double header against Rider University. The games will be held at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Red Storm Field, which is located behind Donovan Hall.
