Syracuse’s players will be watching the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament from their couches next week.

But just days removed from the last game of SU’s season, head coach Leigh Ross is already looking to next year.

“You’re always as a coach thinking about the next year,” Ross said. “You never really dwell on what’s happening right now because you know changes that you need to make.”

In spite of its losing record, Syracuse (20-26, 4-13 ACC) was only one win away from qualifying for the ACC tournament and the head coach plans on using this year’s disappointing season as a learning experience for her team. With the team only losing three players to graduation, next year looks more promising, Ross said.

The team swept its last three games of the season against Virginia, but with only one other conference win outside its last series, it didn’t matter.

“It was more mental stuff for us and not holding on to early leads that killed us (early in the season),” Ross said. “I think we started pushing past that toward the end of the season, so maybe if we had a few more games, or had gotten more in earlier without the weather affecting it, things would’ve been different.”

Syracuse had three games against Boston College (25-22, 4-14) and North Carolina State (32-19, 13-8), who sat at the bottom and middle of the ACC standings respectively, each cancelled due to weather and field conditions. All six were winnable games that SU could have used to propel itself into conference tournament play.

Three of Syracuse’s home conference matchups against Louisville were moved to Louisville because SU Softball Stadium was unfit to play on. Although SU remained the home team on paper, Ross said that having more games at home would have built more confidence.

Jocelyn Cater pitched 182 and two-thirds of 293 and two-thirds possible innings for the Orange, carrying a pitching staff wracked with injury. With Sydney O’Hara and AnnaMarie Gatti sidelined for large chunks of the season, Ross thought Cater took a big step forward this season by embracing the role of power pitcher and “workhorse.”

“She’s got another year, and in a way, if she had to be challenged and pushed to her limits,” Ross said, “this year was probably the year the way it went with everything else.”

The only two holes moving into next year are left by graduating catcher Julie Wambold and centerfielder Mary Dombrowksi. But with a recruiting class of seven players coming in, Ross emphasized that “no one should feel safe” in what seems to be an open competition for starting spots. Five of the seven recruits will look to contribute immediately, Ross said, namely “big-hitter” Andrea Bombace, “all-around athlete” Hannah Dossett and “defensively stellar” Sophie Blasius.

“Being associated with ACC has brought us to a new level (with recruiting),” Ross said. “What I think we learned this year is we need to play at that level. We have the kids to do it, we just need to go out and do it now.”

Published on May 2, 2015 at 12:06 pm

Contact Liam: lpsull01@syr.edu