Boston College Athletics
On Record Breaking Pace, Dreswick Remains Hungry For More
April 12, 2017 | Softball, #ForBoston Files
BC softball heads to Chapel Hill this weekend for a key ACC weekend.
Through its first 38 games, the 2017 Boston College softball season has been a revelation. The Eagles are in the process of crashing the ACC's southern-based party, rolling to 24 wins and an 8-3 conference record. In second place behind only the top-ranked team in the nation, BC's opening pace is based on a grit and attitude of desire that's shocking and opening eyes across the college softball world.
A big reason for their success stems from a dominant pitching staff anchored by one of the NCAA's very best. A right-handed flamethrower with an electric arm, junior Jessica Dreswick is on the verge of making history for a team that's ready to break history.
"With Jessica and Allyson Frei, we really had two No. 1 pitchers last season," head coach Ashley Obrest said. "But Jess doesn't have a partner in crime this year because Ally is redshirting. So she's really taken the approach of having everyone hop on her back, and she's stepped it up without question. She's picking batters and lineups apart, and she's taken it to a place that's better than anything we thought imaginable."
That translates to a season bound for the history books. At 17-6 with a 1.77 ERA, she's on a record-breaking pace, two victories away from tying a record set by both Allison Gage in 2008 and Frei in 2015. She's almost in the top 10 in every other pitching category, something that should fall sooner rather than later with just over a dozen games remaining. And, most importantly, she has the Eagles in position to challenge for their best season since joining the ACC over a decade ago.
"Her demeanor as an athlete can be a little intimidating (for opposing lineups)," Obrest said. "She's a dominant pitcher, but she also talks to her defense. She interacts on the field in between pitches and batters, and it produces a calming effect. She is able to really be a leader on the field when she's interacting like that with her teammates."
It's a process that's seen Dreswick explode onto the national stage. Heading into this weekend against North Carolina, BC is in second place in the ACC, their best start in program history. The only team ahead of them is Florida State, a team with nearly 40 wins and a perfect 18-0 conference record. And though the Seminoles' dueling aces - Jessica Burroughs and Meghan King - are at the front of the ACC pitching pack, Dreswick is right behind them. Her ERA is nipping on the heels of King, and her wins and innings pitched are right in line with Louisville's Maryssa Becker, who Dreswick out-dueled this past weekend.
"Mentally, I've always had confidence in my skill," Dreswick said, "but this year I've really worked on owning that skill. It's come from putting in a lot of hours of work with the coaches, and I've become a lot more confident in my pitching. During my freshman year, I was more worried about the competition I was facing in the ACC but now, I know that I can compete at this level. It's been a development, but I've gone from hoping I would having a good game to working to have a good game against an opponent."
A product of Flemington, N.J., that progress is readily evident across her first two-plus seasons. In 2015, Dreswick made 23 appearances, starting 11 with a 5-6 record. That increased last season to 43 games with 24 starts. She showed a flash of her potential when she threw just the second no-hitter in program history, the first in the ACC era, when she defeated NC State in April. But nothing could prepare anyone for what they're seeing this season.
"When we recruited her, we saw a player who would get better over the years," Obrest said. "We saw someone with raw talent, that threw hard, with a ton of potential. We knew we could mold her into one of the ACC's top players. She's really just developed mentally and as a pitcher. We've tweaked her mechanics a little bit over the years, but it's all a lot of the same that she's had her whole life. She's put in a lot of time conditioning, and she's battled through a couple of injuries that haven't stopped her at all."
The development's been the product of a conditioning program designed to harden and grizzle the Eagles into a gritty, hungry team. On the mound, softball pitching is drastically different from its baseball counterpart because starting pitchers throw virtually every day. One pitcher can serve as a workhorse, which means their arms have to be in peak condition. As a result, conditioning becomes critical.
"Our pitching staff has worked at a high intensity dating back to the fall," Dreswick said. "We're very prepared, and it goes back to our training. The work we put in really prepared all of us. I knew that I would throw a lot of innings this year, but I still had to play well in order to get the respect on the field. But in order to keep getting respect, I know that we have to keep it at a high level as a team."
"Our preparation is way different from baseball, but it's also different from other ACC softball teams," Obrest said. "Our bullpen sessions are high pitches because we're conditioning our pitchers to throw a lot. The volume they throw every day is higher, but it keeps them falling off in late innings. In some of our games, we've seen pitchers lose velocity, but (Dreswick) doesn't lose that velocity."
Simply outworking opponents, BC is off to its best ACC start ever. At 24-14 overall, they're making a case for an NCAA Tournament berth, while their conference record puts them on an inside track for a favorable path when the ACC rolls into Chapel Hill next month.
As a northern program in a sport dominated by southern schools, however, there's still the measure of respect that needs to be earned. Winning six of their first seven games at Shea Field, the Eagles continue to play with a chip on their shoulder, which is something they'll carry with them to North Carolina this weekend for a road series with the Tar Heels, a 10-5 ACC team right in the thick of the conference race.
"We have been playing at a high level against good competition," Dreswick said, "and we know that we have big games coming up against UNC this weekend. We know that we need to win games in order to hold that spot, and like we've had the first couple of weekends, we need our game to be strong in all phases.
"But we want to keep getting better," she continued. "We're in a good position with our highest ACC ranking ever, but each game is a new challenge. We need to maintain that. We plan on going to an NCAA Regional and we want to be competitive, but we know what that requires for playing at a certain level. The season is far from over."
A big reason for their success stems from a dominant pitching staff anchored by one of the NCAA's very best. A right-handed flamethrower with an electric arm, junior Jessica Dreswick is on the verge of making history for a team that's ready to break history.
"With Jessica and Allyson Frei, we really had two No. 1 pitchers last season," head coach Ashley Obrest said. "But Jess doesn't have a partner in crime this year because Ally is redshirting. So she's really taken the approach of having everyone hop on her back, and she's stepped it up without question. She's picking batters and lineups apart, and she's taken it to a place that's better than anything we thought imaginable."
That translates to a season bound for the history books. At 17-6 with a 1.77 ERA, she's on a record-breaking pace, two victories away from tying a record set by both Allison Gage in 2008 and Frei in 2015. She's almost in the top 10 in every other pitching category, something that should fall sooner rather than later with just over a dozen games remaining. And, most importantly, she has the Eagles in position to challenge for their best season since joining the ACC over a decade ago.
"Her demeanor as an athlete can be a little intimidating (for opposing lineups)," Obrest said. "She's a dominant pitcher, but she also talks to her defense. She interacts on the field in between pitches and batters, and it produces a calming effect. She is able to really be a leader on the field when she's interacting like that with her teammates."
It's a process that's seen Dreswick explode onto the national stage. Heading into this weekend against North Carolina, BC is in second place in the ACC, their best start in program history. The only team ahead of them is Florida State, a team with nearly 40 wins and a perfect 18-0 conference record. And though the Seminoles' dueling aces - Jessica Burroughs and Meghan King - are at the front of the ACC pitching pack, Dreswick is right behind them. Her ERA is nipping on the heels of King, and her wins and innings pitched are right in line with Louisville's Maryssa Becker, who Dreswick out-dueled this past weekend.
"Mentally, I've always had confidence in my skill," Dreswick said, "but this year I've really worked on owning that skill. It's come from putting in a lot of hours of work with the coaches, and I've become a lot more confident in my pitching. During my freshman year, I was more worried about the competition I was facing in the ACC but now, I know that I can compete at this level. It's been a development, but I've gone from hoping I would having a good game to working to have a good game against an opponent."
A product of Flemington, N.J., that progress is readily evident across her first two-plus seasons. In 2015, Dreswick made 23 appearances, starting 11 with a 5-6 record. That increased last season to 43 games with 24 starts. She showed a flash of her potential when she threw just the second no-hitter in program history, the first in the ACC era, when she defeated NC State in April. But nothing could prepare anyone for what they're seeing this season.
"When we recruited her, we saw a player who would get better over the years," Obrest said. "We saw someone with raw talent, that threw hard, with a ton of potential. We knew we could mold her into one of the ACC's top players. She's really just developed mentally and as a pitcher. We've tweaked her mechanics a little bit over the years, but it's all a lot of the same that she's had her whole life. She's put in a lot of time conditioning, and she's battled through a couple of injuries that haven't stopped her at all."
The development's been the product of a conditioning program designed to harden and grizzle the Eagles into a gritty, hungry team. On the mound, softball pitching is drastically different from its baseball counterpart because starting pitchers throw virtually every day. One pitcher can serve as a workhorse, which means their arms have to be in peak condition. As a result, conditioning becomes critical.
"Our pitching staff has worked at a high intensity dating back to the fall," Dreswick said. "We're very prepared, and it goes back to our training. The work we put in really prepared all of us. I knew that I would throw a lot of innings this year, but I still had to play well in order to get the respect on the field. But in order to keep getting respect, I know that we have to keep it at a high level as a team."
"Our preparation is way different from baseball, but it's also different from other ACC softball teams," Obrest said. "Our bullpen sessions are high pitches because we're conditioning our pitchers to throw a lot. The volume they throw every day is higher, but it keeps them falling off in late innings. In some of our games, we've seen pitchers lose velocity, but (Dreswick) doesn't lose that velocity."
Simply outworking opponents, BC is off to its best ACC start ever. At 24-14 overall, they're making a case for an NCAA Tournament berth, while their conference record puts them on an inside track for a favorable path when the ACC rolls into Chapel Hill next month.
As a northern program in a sport dominated by southern schools, however, there's still the measure of respect that needs to be earned. Winning six of their first seven games at Shea Field, the Eagles continue to play with a chip on their shoulder, which is something they'll carry with them to North Carolina this weekend for a road series with the Tar Heels, a 10-5 ACC team right in the thick of the conference race.
"We have been playing at a high level against good competition," Dreswick said, "and we know that we have big games coming up against UNC this weekend. We know that we need to win games in order to hold that spot, and like we've had the first couple of weekends, we need our game to be strong in all phases.
"But we want to keep getting better," she continued. "We're in a good position with our highest ACC ranking ever, but each game is a new challenge. We need to maintain that. We plan on going to an NCAA Regional and we want to be competitive, but we know what that requires for playing at a certain level. The season is far from over."
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