Fontbonne Softball Team Wins 29 Games, Makes NCAA Tourney

Bill Rosner and the Fontbonne University women's softball team have a mantra: It's not if, it's win, and that when is now.

The Griffins followed that mindset in the season that recently ended, finishing with a 29-10 record and becoming one of 60 teams out of 404 to qualify for the first round of the NCAA tournament for Division 3.

They fell out of the tournament after losing two straight games, to Washington University and Anderson (IN) University.

The team has come a long way since Rosner, a Bridgeton resident, became head coach. In the season before his arrival, the Griffins won just eight games. In his first year, they won 21 games. In his second year, they won 24.

"The future is good," Rosner said Tuesday, reflecting on the end of his third season as head coach. "The program is in great shape."

Among other accomplishments this year:

• 29-8 record before entering the NCAA tournament

• 15-1 in conference play. The Griffins lost their first conference game to Webster University and won 15 in a row afterward.

• 133 stolen bases

• .974 fielding percentage
• .328 team batting average

In the season preceding this one, Rosner's team also boasted the second-highest group GPA for Division 3 at 3.58. He'll know how this year's team's GPA compared nationally in September.

He attributes the team's success in large part to the dedication of its players. While NCAA rules prohibit him from overseeing them for the next several months, team members will begin working out together in a week. They'll be preparing for the 2012 season, which doesn't officially begin until January. Rosner will get to work with them for four weeks in September, and then the players will be responsible for workouts from October through early 2012.

Games begin in March.

"It's a good group of kids," Rosner said.

This year's team pitched well, caught well and played good defense, Rosner said. It included five freshmen and five seniors, three of whom started for the team regularly.

"We're a pretty dynamic group," Rosner said. "We run the bases hard."

Several players made notable accomplishments this year, Rosner said. He identified freshman pitcher Rachel McCarthy, sophomore pitcher Kourtney Von Behren and senior closer Brittany Kirn as making "quite the impact" this season. 

Other notable accomplishments:

• Marissa Simon, a freshman, made third team All-American

• Rachel McCarthy, a freshman pitcher, made first team All-American and second team All-Region.

• Cara Hargate, a freshman second-baseman, made first team All-Conference and second team All-Region

• Amanda Beaver, a senior first-baseman, made first team All-Conference and second team All-Region

• Amy Simon, a senior third-baseman, made first team All-Conference (a distinction she attained three years in a row) and third team All-Region

• Jes Stevens, a freshman, led the team in hitting and made an All-Conference team

A total of five players made the All-Region team, Rosner said. Fontbonne plays in the Midwest Region, composed of 40 schools. Fontbonne held the No. 5 spot nearly all season, he said.

The Fontbonne team was composed largely of locals: While it included members from Cape Girardeau and Illinois, most were from the St. Louis area, Rosner said.

Volunteers helping the team included his daughter, assistant coach Taylor Rosner; pitching coach Randi Davis; and hitting coach Andee Allen.

Next year, the Griffins will welcome five new freshmen. Rosner wants to work with his team on playing better defense. The team also will fight to win the national tournament and to become the team with the highest GPA ranking in Division 3. The team has as good a chance to do that next year as any, he said.

He said athletic director Maria Eftink and Fontbonne's president, Dr. Dennis Golden, have been very supportive.

"I coach at a great school," Rosner said.