Published in the Daily Hampshire Gazette on May 8, 2015
WEST SPRINGFIELD — Emilie Baldwin first thought about her 100th hit as a freshman, but she lost count during the last three-plus softball seasons at Northampton.
Before Wednesday’s game against Westfield, her dad, Hamp baseball coach Mark Baldwin, told the senior she had 94 career hits.
Despite playing with a injured wrist that she hurt during basketball season and tweaked last week, she closed the gap quickly. Baldwin went 5 for 5 against Westfield and hit the milestone with a single in the first inning of a 6-0 loss against West Springfield at Mittineague Park on Thursday.
“It kind of crept up on me,” Baldwin said. “You don’t think about it until you get close, and then you’re like, ‘I kind of want to get this milestone in my career.’ My dad and my family hadn’t really talked about it. We didn’t want to put it in my head and make me nervous, but going into today I was ready for it.”
The hit dropped in just behind the shortstop in shallow left field and she had predicted the location just before walking out on deck.
“Emilie’s good,” Northampton coach Jim Hale said. “She goes up and say, ‘I’ll hit it to left.’”
Baldwin is the first Northampton softball player to reach the milestone. Justin Kelly had an even 100 when his baseball career ended in 1992.
“To me, it’s just really special to have the mark in the school’s history and give shape to the program,” Baldwin said. “Hopefully for younger kids looking up, they will aim for the same thing. … It’s not so much for me, it’s for younger generations playing softball.”
Hale said her knowledge of the game and patience at the plate helped put her name in the record books.
“She’s just a good hitter,” Hale said. “She knows the pitch. She knows what to do. She doesn’t swing at bad pitches. She’s just worked really hard.”
Baldwin added two more singles to account for three of the Blue Devils’ four hits. Baldwin, who has yet to be held hitless this season, doesn’t know what sparked her 8-for-8 streak over the last two days.
“I don’t know,” Baldwin said. “I thought I was going to be out for a couple games, but I just taped (my wrist) up and keep going. I’ve been trying not to hit for power, but push it in to the gaps. I like in between short and third. That’s my favorite gap.”
Her milestone single landed there and she ripped a single through the same hole in the sixth. In the third, Baldwin singled up the middle.
Baldwin’s leadership goes beyond her hitting at the plate. She had five putouts and one assist at first base, and vocally directed her teammates where to throw.
“My arm has gotten a bit stronger last summer and this year,” Baldwin said. “I think knocking down everything I can at first and making all their throws look good, that’s my job. Obviously hitting is a big thing, but defense is extremely important.”
Her hitting and defense will head to Ithaca College, where she projects as a big bat and corner infielder.
“I’m really excited. Great program,” Baldwin said. “They struggled a little bit at the plate this year so they are definitely trying to bring in hitters.”
Baldwin has at least 10 games left for the Blue Devils (4-6). She and Hale think qualifying for the tournament is possible. Hamp needs six more wins or finish in second place in the Valley League.
“We’re going to need to start swinging a little bit better than this,” Baldwin said. “If we tighten up the screws we’ll be fine.”
Lily Glading-DiLorenzo picked up the fourth hit for Northampton (4-6) Thursday. Freshman Anna Kerwood struck out five and threw three 1-2-3 innings in the loss. Errors in the first and sixth led to four runs for the Terriers.
“We can’t make errors like that,” Hale said. “Plays that we should make, especially at this point, and we don’t make. A team like that is going to take advantage. Errors, everybody makes them, just happens to be the first inning today.”