PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Saint Joseph’s University softball team is getting ready to host the Atlantic 10 Tournament. The double elimination tourney begins for the Hawks on Thursday afternoon when they take on Fordham.
The Hawks have enjoyed an outstanding season to this point, going 19-3 in A-10 action (26-18 overall) and winning the A-10’s North Division regular season title.
They have received a lot of contributions from a lot of players, including a record breaking campaign from grad student and first baseman Caela Abadie.
A native of West Chester, Abadie is hitting .393 for the season. During a recent double-header split with Fordham, she set the program’s single-season (14) and career (35) home records as well as the single-season RBI record (54). She set the two home run records on the same long ball.
“I couldn’t have been able to do that without my coaches and my teammates,” she said about her record breaking.
“They are the reason why I am successful, and they are the reason why as a team we are super successful. Just hearing them cheer me on and having my back is just the greatest feeling, and there are no other girls that I would rather be out there playing with then them. It’s awesome.”
Abadie said she was aware these records were in play for her, but they weren’t a focus for her.
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“I wasn’t really keeping track of any of it, just because I know that once you start thinking about it, maybe bad things can happen,” she said.
“So I just forgot all about it, went out there and then if it happened it was going to happen and it worked out for me in that way.”
There is still work to do for Abadie and the Hawks as they chase a conference title and NCAA Tournament berth, but she likes their chances.
“I’ve never played on a team that I feel so confident in that we can win this championship," she said.
Saint Joseph’s and Fordham play at 1:30pm on Thursday.