By TIM RATH

Sports Editor

It’s only 10 a.m., but Oakland University softball coach Glenn MacDonald is looking forward to a new day.

As he sat down on a cloudy Friday morning to discuss the 2008 season, MacDonald could not hide his disappointment. Although tabbed for a fifth-place finish in a preseason poll by his peers, MacDonald had much greater plans for the Golden Grizzlies.

“We reached our goal last year, which was to make the conference tournament,” MacDonald said in an interview last February. “This year, we’d like to be the team that wins the championship trophy.”

The Grizzlies fell short of that expectation, finishing with a 15-28 record and failing to qualify for post-season play.

After opening the year on February 23 in the Georgia Southern Eagle Classic with five straight losses, the Grizzlies ripped off a five-game winning streak that brought their record back to .500.

From there, a month of inconsistent play and even more inconsistent weather forced the cancellation of 19 regular season games, grinding the Grizzlies’ record down to 13-17 after a victory at SDSU on April 18.

The Grizzlies then closed out the season on a 2-11 skid that ended with a regular season finale victory against IPFW.    

MacDonald could fill a book with excuses for the Grizzlies’ decline from the 2007 Summit League Championship Tournament season to following the tournament online, but he doesn’t. Instead, he pins the blame on the shoulders of himself and the team.

“Don’t get me wrong,” MacDonald said. “It’s our fault we didn’t make [the tournament].”

However, even MacDonald’s peers would be hard-pressed to deny the Grizzlies’ tough-luck spring.

“This was the most difficult season that we’ve had in the seven years that I’ve been here,” MacDonald said of a historically long winter season that stretched well into April.  “I don’t think that we lost 19 games in the previous six years added up.”

“We probably had three or four practices outside all year… if we cancel a game, we’re back (indoors), and you don’t see the ball as well. The outfielders don’t react as well… it’s tough,” he continued.

In addition, a lack of support for workhorse junior pitcher Jessica Granger plagued the Grizzlies for a second straight season.

“We had games in which we would knock the cover off the ball, and then in the next game, it was like, ‘Where did our bats go?'” MacDonald said. “There were times that Jess would get in trouble… I’d need to make a pitching change, but I didn’t have anyone to do it that I felt comfortable with until the end of the year.”

MacDonald went further, explaining that Granger’s worth to the team was more than her 3.11 ERA and 10-19 record would indicate.

“She kept us in games, time after time,” MacDonald said. “I tell the younger players, ‘If you want to be successful, watch Jess. Her, Julie Owen and Caitlin Lynch will be our captains next year, and you couldn’t ask for better senior leadership than those three.”

Owen, a junior second baseman, was named to the All-Summit League second team for a season in which she hit .297 and scored 18 runs.

Lynch, a junior third baseman, led the team with 24 RBI and 73 assists, while batting .314 and slugging .500 for the year.

The other half of the battery served the Grizzlies just as well, as sophomore catcher Angela Righetti joined Owen on the All-Summit League second team. Righetti led the team in batting at .368, and on-base percentage at .414.

“She was my best hitter this year,” MacDonald said of Righetti. “It takes time to adapt to this caliber of pitching, and for her to do so well in her second year is just amazing.”

The Grizzlies said goodbye to seniors Brittany West, Sam Rhein, and Alex Perrino with a final victory over IUPUI May 3.

Perrino, a four-year starter at first base who batted in the five-slot, is expected to be particularly missed as MacDonald prepares his lineup for next year. She hit .244 on the season, with 13 RBI and 21 hits in 37 games played.

However, MacDonald is not short on options to replace her or the other departing seniors. Recruits he will welcome into the fold next season include pitchers Brittany Doyle and Kylie Schalz, first baseman Leh DiCristofaro, third baseman Dani Dulberg and outfielder Ashley Dyson.

“I have almost a whole starting team back next year, plus, five new recruits That’s the fun part of it,” MacDonald said.

MacDonald is also taking steps to ensure that the Grizzlies’ course won’t be as strongly dictated by the weather.

“We’ll be playing in September,” MacDonald said. “There’ll be a couple of junior colleges and local schools that we’ll play, so our players will see different pitching than ours. [September] will give me a better chance to see what the kids can do, as opposed to starting the season in the spring, when [the score] counts on your record.”

It’s going to be a long, hard summer for the softball team, as they’ll have plenty of time to consider what might have been with a little help. However, MacDonald is content with them carrying that chip on their shoulder all the way to next season.

“Next year is our year,” MacDonald said. “Another winter like this… hopefully we won’t see it again.”