In the Swing
5/8/2018 12:00:00 AM | Softball
By Eric Detweiler, GW Athletics Communications
Pitch-by-pitch, Jenna Cone has reviewed every at-bat of her sophomore season with GW softball.
Often, that's meant reliving highlights from another sterling spring during her individual film sessions with the coaching staff.
Of course, there are tough-to-watch moments, too.
"I love it because I'm a visual learner," said Cone, who leads the Colonials with 28 extra-base hits. "Sometimes, I see myself swinging at a pitch, and I'm like `No!' In the game, I thought it was good, but afterward, I can see right away what adjustments I needed to make."
Ultimately, there's something to learn from every swing and take over the course of a three-month season.
That kind of commitment to the details has fueled GW's development into one of the top offenses in the nation.
Thanks to meticulously crafted swings and a heaping helping of video review, the Colonials set program records in a slew of offensive categories in 2017 in their first season under head coach James DeFeo. They've been even better in Year 2, rewriting the record book once again, including a .332 team batting average that ranks fifth nationally heading into this week's A-10 Championship.
"I couldn't have even imagined we'd get to where we are so quickly," DeFeo said. "That's just a testament to the student-athletes themselves. They're willing to put in the hard work, and it's paying off."
Upon his hiring in August 2016, DeFeo brought an offensive approach honed and added to over more than a decade on staff at national power LSU and six more seasons at Mercer as a head coach. A self-described "hitting nerd," the coach takes pride in his ability to evaluate and accentuate the strengths of his squad.
In his first days with the Colonials, DeFeo told the group everybody, from freshmen through upperclassmen, would begin the fall with a clean slate to start working toward the best swing for them.
"That really set the standard that we were all going to learn this brand-new culture together," Cone said.
DeFeo's philosophy is built on piece-by-piece mechanical analysis to improve the efficiency of every hitter's swing and one-on-one film study designed to teach them not only which pitches they should be targeting but why. The fall is spent tweaking and building good habits, so that muscle memory can take over during the grind of the season.
Throughout the spring, DeFeo prescribes "mechanic" days at least once every two weeks, highlighted by tee work and other drills that hone in on specific pieces of the swing. He compares that regular swing maintenance to an oil change for a car.
"If you don't do that," DeFeo said, "your car's going to end up falling apart."
That approach has paid immediate dividends across the lineup. This group has expertly blended power and speed to put up an average of 6.4 runs per game during a 32-win regular season.
Eight different regulars are hitting better than .330, paced by freshman Alessandra Ponce, who at .406 has a shot to be the first Colonial since GW Hall of Famer Elana Meyers Taylor in 2007 to hit over .400 for a season.
DeFeo is more interested in tracking percentage of quality at-bats than the more traditional stats that have GW all over the national leaderboards, but it's been an understandably enjoyable start to his career leading the Buff and Blue.
"The biggest jumps come with time," DeFeo said. "I think the longer we're working this system and the longer we're doing all of these things, the kids will only keep getting better."
So far, so good. Marta Fuentes arrived at GW in the fall on the heels a decorated junior college career, in which she hit better than .400 over two years, but the shortstop eagerly dove into fine-tuning her swing with the help of DeFeo and assistant Hallie Blackney.
Fuentes has worked hard to slow down her feet in the box and improve her timing. She's hit .369 in her debut with the Colonials at the top of the lineup and already broken the program's single-season records for runs (49) and steals (31).
"It's honestly really surreal," Fuentes said. "It's really cool because you're up there just trying to get a hit, trying to get on base. We just try to keep that simple approach and not doing anything too fancy, and it's obviously been working."
Morgan Rinehart has shown, perhaps, the most progress of any Colonial. The veteran outfielder has put together her best season in Buff and Blue as a senior, showcasing a potent mix of power and speed. Her .336 batting average is 70 points higher than her career average entering the spring.
Rinehart said it's taken a consistent series of physical and mental tweaks throughout her career to find this kind of confidence and comfort in the batter's box. By now, she knows the secret to success lies in the details.
"I think before we were up there just trying to hit strikes," Rinehart said. "Now, we're up there trying to hit our strikes."
