Lear finishing up outstanding athletic career

by Ron D'Orazio staff writer

Traveling 30 minutes just for practice after playing on Cabrini's campus for three years can take its toll on a ball player. Just ask senior softball player Chris Lear.

Lear -has been a member of the Lady Cavs' softball team since her first spring at Cabrini and has started in every game she has played since.

This year, due to NCAA regulations about field specifications, the Lady Cavs were not permitted to play on the field on campus.

Instead, they traveled to the field on the campus of Valley Forge Christian College, located almost a half-hour away from Cabrini.

Accordin_g to Lear, the distance of the field away from the school made playing for the team challenging, especially this year, when Lear sometimes had to drive an hour just to practice.

The long drive Lear made almost everyday was due to field placement for education majors. Lear had to show up to most games a few innings late and then see almost no fan support due to the distant location of the field.

According to Lear, members of the team tried on many occasions to appeal to the administration for a field on campus.

The administration prol!llsed the team a field at Cabrini but their promise never materialized this season.

Lear said the current seniors went to Dr. Antoinette Iadarola, college president, with their appeal and received no support.

Lear said that in addition to the problems the team faced by not having a home field, they also had to deal with a coaching change this year.

James Hedtke, assistant professor of history and political science, left due to personal reasons and former Cabrini shortstop Rosanne Carfagno Corcoran filled the position.

Although there were many challenges that came with playing softball and its added stress, Lear said she would still do it all over again. faced with a lot of opposition," Lear said. pened, whether it was a good play or a good hit," she said. supplied by public relations

During Lear's career, the team made the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference twice. The team finished as PAC runner-up in her first year and came in third in her junior season.

"This year's class of firstyear students is incredible and has a really good chance to take the team to the next level."

During her years at Cabrini, Lear not only started at first base for the Lady Cav's softball team in all four years that she played, but she was also a key member of the women's field hockey team.

Lear said she enjoyed playing for Cabrini and has made many positive memories and life-long friends.

According to Lear, the seniors did not only play together, but they all became very good friends during their time together.

"The friendships that I made were definitely the most beneficial part of playing for the team," she said.

Lear also has a f~ily connection to the softball team.

Even though the team missed qualifying for the PAC playoffs this season by a narrow margin, Lear said that this year's team is still the best she has played for in her four years at Cabrini.

"This team had the heart and determination to do well this year, even though we were I

During their years playing, Lear and the four other seniors on the team (Denise Canaris, Melissa Hunsburger, Jennifer Wiederwax and Erin O'Neill) grew tight and shared a common bond, as they consistently came through for each other and picked each other up during practices and games.

Lear said when the- five seniors were out on the field, they were • basically "unstoppable."

"It seemed like every time we were out there, good things hap-

Lear said her sister, catcher Mary Lear, who is a sophomore and fellow team member, motivated her to keep going and "picked her up" during the games and practices.

Even though Lear feels that the season was "incomplete" because of the difficulties of the field's location and her teaching, she says that she still loves the game of softball.

Lear says that she has many memories that she will remember from her days at Cabrini, from this year's softball and field hockey teams as well as the ones of the past.

"I just had a really awesome time here at Cabrini," she said.