Ferro, Saints head into MAAC Tournament as No. 1 seed
Shenendehowa graduate a catalyst as Siena’s leadoff hitter
LOUDONVILLE — Siena softball wasn’t a contender for Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference titles when Mandy Ferro first stepped on campus in 2009.
However, in her senior year, she has a chance to be a part of the first Siena softball team to win such a championship.
A 2009 graduate of Shenendehowa High School, Ferro and the Saints will head to Poughkeepsie as the No. 1 seed for the MAAC Tournament, which begins Thursday afternoon at Marist College. It follows a season of firsts for the pro- gram, which won its firstever regular season crown with a sweep of Marist on the final day of the regular season.
“It’s just ( because of) players wanting to win,” Ferro said. “Before, we were just out here playing softball. Now, we’re coming out
here and playing with a purpose.”
Ferro was one of just three Saints to play in all 45 games of the season to date. She is batting .324 this year, with 11 doubles and six stolen bases as the team’s leadoff hitter.
“Mandy is our offensive catalyst,” Siena head coach Bill Lajeunesse said. “She’s our jumpstarter. It’s nice when you can have a kid at the top of the order who not only hits for average, but hits with some power, too.”
Ferro is one of just two seniors on this year’s team, but is one of several Saints with Section II connections. Senior Shannon Jones ( Troy) and sophomores Antonia Edwards ( Bethlehem) and Megan Volz ( Lansingburgh) all came from nearby high schools.
“They have proven that you can be a Section II softball player and play Division I softball,” Lajeunesse said. “Not just play, but excel at Division I softball, because these kids have had outstanding seasons.”
“One of the things Bill and I have talked about is getting the best local talent that we can,” Siena assistant coach Abby Arceneaux, herself a Mechanicville High School graduate, said. “It’s important for a number of reasons. It’s great for the school, it’s great for the families of the studentathletes, and it’s great for Section II.”
After back- to- back 20win seasons that saw Siena fall just short of two consecutive MAAC Tournaments, the Saints started 2013 on the wrong foot, dropping their first seven games and 19 of their first 25. However, the team caught fire in conference play, going 12- 4 and winning eight of their last nine games against league opponents.
“It was kind of a blessing in disguise to struggle in the beginning,” Ferro said. “We got all the errors out of our system, and we started to realize what we could and couldn’t do.”
“We’ve played our best softball in the last three weeks of the season,” Lajeunesse said. “We’re pitching well, we’re play- ing good defense, and the bats are staying hot, so things are coming together well at the right time.”
The 12 league wins are a new program record, and despite the slow start, the Saints finished with 21 regular-season wins, one off another all-time mark. This is Siena softball’s second- ever postseason appearance, 10 years after its first in 2003.
Siena’s quest for a MAAC title begins with a 2 p. m. tilt against fourthseeded Niagara. The double- elimination tournament stretches into the weekend, and winning it would mean plenty to the Clifton Park native.
“It would be unreal to leave a mark on the Siena program and Siena history,” she said.