The Simmons softball team soared to new heights at its annual Florida trip last week, winning a school record nine games down south against just one setback. The Sharks got contributions from everyone, whether it was with the bat, the glove, or in the circle. Freshman Dannie Szabo burst onto the college scene with a team best .484 batting average, while also belting two homers and driving in a team leading 12 RBI. Senior captain Ann Talarico was close behind with a .441 average and 10 runs batted in while playing flawless defense at shortstop. Senior Natalie West batted .400 for the week as well contributing a homer and six RBI.

The Sharks also got contributions from junior Sam Green, who batted .360. A pair of freshmen in Stephanie Murray and Emily Nalband each turned in .353 averages with Nalband scoring 10 runs. In the circle sophomore Sammi Letizio had a phenomenal week, going 7-0 with a 0.53 ERA. She struck out 37 batters in 40 innings. West pitched very well in two starts, and junior Kelsey Hasick was 1-0 and threw very well in her two starts. The run started for Simmons with a season opening 6-3 win over Burlington County College last Saturday, a mere three hours after the team had landed in Florida. The next day the Sharks knocked of 14th ranked Community College of Rhode Island, and followed that up with a pair of double header sweeps over Newbury and Penn St.-Hazelton.

The Sharks closed out the week with two wins over Farmingdale St. including a 7-6 extra inning thriller, in which the Rams had the winning run at third with nobody out in the seventh and Letizio came on in relief to shut the door and prolong the game. Murray scored the go ahead run in the eighth on a wild pitch, and Letizio held the Rams at bay in the home half of the inning to clinch the victory. Simmons will be back in action this week in the cold New England spring, with games at MIT, as well as the Colleges of the Fenway Tournament.