Around the beginning of the spring, way back in February, some in Harvard softball circles were whispering about the prospects of an Ivy League championship.

But you can't accuse senior Nicole Desharnais of thinking such fanciful thoughts.

"A lot of people were talking about ever, we could have our best season ever, and how we could win the league, but I wasn't one of them," she says. "Call me the enternal cynic, but that just wasn't realistic--we knew we had way too many defensive problems--especially pitching--to do something like that."

And she was right.

As the season got started, and the team began giving up more and more runs Desharnais' realistic approach became increasingly popular. By mid-season, the team had almost completely shifted its goals to emphasize general improvement over specific goals.

"I think we realized that with all of out young players, simply improving would be a good step for this season," Desharnais says. "The thinking was: "let's not get our hopes up until we have something to get our hopes up about."

Of course, there were some brights spots on the year.

In general, its hitting was excellent. Desharnais, senior Christine Vogt, sophomore Amy Reinhard and freshman Katina Lee provided firepower from the start, hitting for both power and average.

But while hitting is half the battle, it doesn't win championships, a fact the Crimson learned via a host of defensive problems.

"In general, our defense was pretty bad--particularly at the start," Desharnais says. "We made a lot of errors and we gave up a lot of hits. It wasn't pretty.

But it got better.

As the season progressed, the team's defensive woes became fewer, and its hitting held out. In the end, the team was playing some excellence ball.

The season started out on a tough spring break trip to Hawaii the last week of March. There, the team lost seven of the nine games it played, twice beating tiny Chaminade, a school known more of its basketball upsets that for its softball prowess.

The team returned to the Continental U.S. and enjoyed more success after that. It split a doubleheader with Bryant on April 5, and swept Rhode Island Collage two days later, before plunging into a succession of double headers with Division I foes.

The larger-school competition less kind to the team, as it won only seven of its next 22. It swept Holy Cross and Cornell, split with Boston College, Vermont and Penn, and was swept by Maine,Boston University, Princeton ,Providence, Yale and Hartford.

The team began showing slight improvement in the losses to Yale and Hartford, and that carried over into its last seven games, its most successful string of softball in recent memory. The team garnered victories in all but one of those contests--a 6-5 loss to Brown and closed out the season on an undeniably positive note.

"I can't say that I was particularly happy with the season, but I was happy with the end of the season," Desharnais says. "We showed a lot of improvement."

The team was led in batting by Vogt, who hit.402, Desharnais (.400),Reinhard (.396) and Lee (.374). Lee also nailed six home runs to lead the team.

On the mound, junior Elizabeth Walker amassed a 10-12 record.

"It was a good year and I think we had a lot of fun, but I think what I will remember about this team is its talent," Desharnais says. "While it might not have showed it in terms of wins and losses, it was the best team I've been on since being here. Things will get better, just wait and see."

Mark one up for the "eternal cynic."

SOFTBALL

Record: 18-25

Ivy League: 4-6

Key Players: Christine Vogt (.402, 2HR). Nicole Desharnais (.400, 1 HR), Elizabeth Walker (10-12, 39 K)

Seniors: Christine Vogt, Nicole Desharnais