As the snow slowly melts in Durango, the Fort Lewis College softball team has 11 games under its belt heading into next weekend’s Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opener against Colorado Mesa.
The Skyhawks (3-8) have played four top-25 teams over the last two weekends in preparation for a difficult RMAC schedule. Already tough competition was been made even tougher considering most of FLC’s opponents have been practicing and playing outdoors for weeks while the Skyhawks have been mostly stuck indoors.
However, underclassmen are already making a name for themselves and a senior pitcher tossed a no-hitter in an exciting first two weeks for first-year head coach Elle Fracker.
“I think we all had some early season jitters, but we’re settling in nicely,” Fracker said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “We’ve gone up against some really tough competition and we’ve been able to scratch out some wins. Some other games were left on the table, but we hope to win those close games as the season goes along.”
Freshman Algelique Elemen has been a major run producer for the Skyhawks to start the campaign. The catcher leads Fort Lewis with two home runs and 11 runs batted in. Sophomore Lauren Caldwell’s 12 hits lead the offense and her .414 batting average is second to Denae Fisher’s .429.
In the circle, Fort Lewis has leaned on senior Victoria Johnson.
Johnson threw a no-hitter in Friday’s 8-0 win against Cameron University and improved to 3-1 with a win against Eastern New Mexico on Saturday as she struck out 10 in seven innings.
“Victoria is our ace and we need that kind of leadership from our seniors,” said Fracker. “She’s confident and the younger girls are showing that they belong as well. Angelique has already emerged as a leader and is a threat every time she’s up at bat.”
At the Dixie State Tournament, Fort Lewis beat conference foe CSU-Pueblo 10-4, but dropped the rest of the games to ranked teams No. 22 West Texas A&M, No. 13 Humboldt State and No. 2 Dixie State. At West Texas A&M’s invitational over the weekend, Fort Lewis finished with two wins and three losses.
The Skyhawks will open RMAC conference play at noon, Saturday against Colorado Mesa.
The game is scheduled to take place at Fort Lewis College, but may be moved to another location if the field isn’t ready for play.
jfries@durangoherald.com
