Just two weeks ago, Fordham played a perfect defensive game on the field.
On Wednesday night, they gave up 15 runs to a team that hit the ball out of the infield just a handful of times, dropping their record to 2-5. Clearly, this went awry in the field. After the game, Fordham fired fielding coach Bill Buckner.
"I taught them everything I knew, and apparently it just wasn't good enough," Buckner told the press.
The bad fielding crushed an otherwise solid effort on the mound by Patty Dickerson, who proved to be quite durable, throwing 243 pitches in the losing effort.
The team may have been feeling a bit pressured to turn in highlight film plays in the field, because the offence has been non existent. The team has only averaged 4.57 runs a game, second worst in their division.
Still, you have to give the team credit for having heart. After the game, most of the players stayed for an extra 45 minutes of practice, in addition to the extra inning they played after the mercy rule kicked in.
Also hurting the team were the departures of Alexis Kramer to Chicago and Kevin Rodricks to Boston. Both players were traded for future considerations in cost cutting moves forced by the movement of University funding to scholarship students.
"Apparently, academics, and not alumni softball, is the priority for this school," commented Manager Charlie O'Donnell after the game. "You have to wonder whether or not the University is really thinking about the future if they're going to have these kinds of lopsided priorities."