The five members of the class of 2005 are the first seniors since the class of 1997 to face graduation without an Ivy League championship. Last time Harvard softball (5-9) finished on top of the Ancient Eight was in 2001.

“They’re the only class that I’ve coached who hasn’t gotten a ring yet,” Harvard coach Jenny Allard said.

Add three impact freshmen to those five hungry seniors, and the Crimson has its own version of “the young and the restless.” All three rookies look to be major contributors from the start, and the fate of the 2005 season could rest largely in the hands of its young talent.

TOES THE RUBBER

Two of those freshmen are pitchers who join a sophomore, junior, and senior on the mound, and Allard expects all five hurlers to contribute.

“I think heading out, I want all of our pitchers focused on being able to start for us at any time,” Allard said.

After the graduation of last year’s Ivy League Pitcher of the Year, Kara Brotemarkle, ’04 a top priority during the off-season was to train and develop a powerful and consistent pitching staff.

Harvard might have outdone itself with the recruitment of freshmen Amanda Watkins and Shelly Madick. Both hailing from southern California, Watkins and Madick bring highly successful pitching resumes and repertoires to Harvard.

“Amanda and Shelly will play a large role on our pitching staff this year,” Allard said. “They have good moving pitches. I think Amanda’s a hard throwing right handed pitcher. And I would describe Shelly as a very good breaking ball pitcher.”

The freshmen hurlers combined for 34 strikeouts in their first 54.2 innings of play, with Madick recording 12 K’s in the Crimson’s 4-1 win over Providence on Tuesday.

Alongside Watkins and Madick is co-captain Lauren Bettinelli, who split innings with Brotemarkle last season. Her career ERA of 2.45 ranks eighth on Harvard’s all-time list, and she also boasts the Crimson’s second-lowest career opponent batting average of .224.

Sophomore pitcher Becky Voaklander also returns to the mound after limited playing time last year.

“She has the best changeup on the staff. It’s her bread and butter pitch.” Allard said. “She’s worked hard to develop a good screwball and a good drop curve, so hopefully with those added pitches, she’s going to get more time in than she did last year.”

Rounding out the pitching rotation is junior Michele McAteer, who injury and illness kept away for most of the 2004 season.

“Michele’s strength is down, but she keeps hitters off-balance,” Allard said. “She gets a lot of ground balls. If our defense isn’t playing well, it could be a disaster behind Michele. But she’s not going to serve the pitch up and have it get hit out of the park.”