By Timothy Bold
The Scene staff
The STLCC women’s softball team is on fire, winning its first Division II Region 16 tournament in dominant fashion against the Mineral Area College Cardinals while gearing up for a trip to the district tournament.
Since taking over the women’s team three years ago, the wife-husband coaching team of Kristi and Joe Swiderski have led the Lady Archers to national prominence. They both come from an extensive background of select and college softball in the St. Louis region. They met as students at UMSL, she as a softball player and he as a baseball player.
Before coaching at STLCC, Kristi Swiderski was a stay-at-home mom, joining her husband in helping their son battle brain cancer for 9½ years. He died in 2015.
Kristi Swiderski puts a big emphasis with her players on grades and mental toughness.
“You’re not going to play softball forever, and eventually you’re going to have things you don’t want to do,” she said. “It’s easy to lose focus, so you try to find a balance to keep them motivated.”
The Lady Archers, who are ranked No. 6 nationally in NJCAA Division II, enter the District 24 championships May 16 with a 38-4 record and a 17-game winning streak. They’ve won 32 of their last 33 games. A victory in the regionals would send STLCC to the national tournament on May 22-25 in Clinton, Miss.
The team also won the regular season title of the Missouri Community College Athletic Conference.
The 8-0 regional victory May 6 over Mineral Area came from the combination of batting, fielding and pitching.
Sophomore Hannah Marquardt delivered a one-hit shutout after dealing with a bout of plantar fasciitis, a heal inflammation. “When I started warming up, I was afraid of hurting myself, but I had to push through for my team,” Marquardt said.
She was pitching a perfect game until Cardinals freshman Kelly McMahon drilled a pinch single through the middle with two outs in the sixth inning. “I was feeling really good today, very happy with my performance,” Marquardt said.
She got support in the field, especially from sophomore shortstop Abby Lavely and freshman second baseman Breanna Potthast. Kristi Swiderski described Potthast as a “fireplug, short in stature, but has heart and the whole package.”
The Lady Archers scored five runs in the first inning as all nine batters came to the plate. They finished off the Cardinals with a three-run sixth, collecting 12 hits overall and three stolen bases.
Miranda Hudson was 3 for 3 with a double and three RBIs and Sidney Litviak was 3 for 3 with double and an RBI.
In the semifinal game May 5, the Lady Archers squeaked by East Central College 3-1 with Lavey’s go-ahead RBI single in the third inning. Sophomore pitcher Sarah Shepard got her 11th win of the season, striking out five in 5 1/3 innings. Litviak earned her third save, allowing no hits.
STLCC won all five meetings this season against East Central.
The team was an offensive force, averaging almost 10 runs a game. The Lady Archers hit the 20-run mark in wins against East Central College, St. Charles Community College and Mineral Area College.
The team batting average is .391, led by freshman Tori Siebum (.393, nine homers, 53 RBI) and two sophomores, catcher Kacy Bergfeld (.454, seven homers, 53 RBI) and outfielder Jennifer Luebbert (.406).
Luebbert, the leadoff hitter, is 33-0 in stolen bases and leads the team with 58 runs. The team has stolen 88 bases while being caught stealing only six times all season.
On hitting leadoff, Luebbert said, “I get to see the pitches first and the team follows.”
In the pitching department, the team’s earned run average is 2.39, led by Marquardt (12 wins, 2.33 ERA) and Shepard (11 wins, 2.37). They combined for most of the workload this season.
Freshmen round out the pitching staff: Sophie Koesterer (seven wins, 3.49 ERA), Alison Klaus (four wins, 1.03 ERA) and Litviak (four wins, 2.41 ERA).
Having a large pitching staff “gives us the flexibility when the other team figures it out. We can throw something else in to keep them off balance,” Kristi Swiderski said.
The series that boosted the team’s confidence was against Division I archrival Jefferson College on March 28, when the Lady Archers swept the doubleheader 5-3 and 6-4. The sweep over Jefferson was the first for the Swiderskis since they’ve been coaching at STLCC.
Kristi Swiderski says the Lady Archers don’t rely on one or two particular players to carry the team. “When you’re in college, you need them all, especially because of the length of the season. When one girl gets hurt, there is someone waiting in the wings.”
When the season started last fall, Luebbert said she wasn’t sure how good the team would be, “but now it’s very special. In the fall it was rough. Some of our games we weren’t doing so hot. Once spring came around, we started winning and kept going. It gave us a lot of confidence.”
Freshman outfielder Mariah Newby said, “We’re together as a team, mix well and get along. The season has gone great, and we’re ready for the playoffs.”