Reprinted from the West Chester Daily Local on Sunday April 13, 2008

For nearly a year, softball at Lincoln University was more of an idea than anything else -- a bold initiative from a school charging full-throttle into Division II.

Then on March 2, it became very real.

Playing their first NCAA game in school history, the Lions were bombarded by West Chester University. The scores for a softball game were unfathomable -- 48-0 and 30-0 -- as NCAA records crumbled.

“We expected it to be bad,” shortstop Tanina Cook. “That hurt a little.”

Things hardly got better for the Lions, who have been outscored this season by a staggering 377-19 margin through eight doubleheaders. Incredibly, however, the numbers are not as bad as they look if you consider three very important facts:

1) All 14 of Lincoln’s players are walk-ons.

2) Only a handful of them had ever played organized softball before.

3) The Lions have faced some of the top Division II programs in the region.

“It’s been tough, but we had no allusions,” head coach Chris Cummings said. “We knew going from a club sport, let alone a Division II sport, that we’d take some lumps.”

A seasoned softball coach in the area, Cummings was hired about a year ago to ease the school’s transition from club to varsity status.

Quickly, he realized this wouldn’t be an ordinary college coaching position.

First, he had the remaining club players recruit others to the team through word of mouth and by putting fliers around campus. Cook -- the team’s best player and a three-sport athlete at Lincoln -- did her part, luring three of her basketball playing buddies to the diamond.

“I told them it was a fun atmosphere and they get to travel,” said Cook, who leads the team in most statistical categories. “That caught their attention.”

The recruitment, though, turned out to be the easy part as many of those who joined didn’t really understand all of the complexities of the game. So probably doing what no other college coach in the country had to do, Cummings taught his players about tagging up, stealing and vague concepts like the infield fly rule.

“Some things I took for granted -- some things that you’re supposed to know at an advanced level,” Cummings said. “That’s what we got out of the West Chester game the most. We realized the difference between walking on a team and people dedicating years and years to a sport.”

Soon, Cummings hopes he’ll be able to field a full team of girls who have been playing softball since their youth. With partial scholarships at his disposal, the head coach has been scouring the country for recruits.

And he doesn’t mind them seeing this season’s results.

“I encourage all the recruits to look at our box scores,” Cummings said. “You can’t hide from NCAA records.”

Still, the question as to why this year’s team -- with no recruits -- has been subject to such merciless beatings must be raised.

According to Cummings, the answer is simple. In its exploratory season, the head coach hoped to give his team a taste of what Division II softball would be like -- and that meant playing teams like West Chester from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, the region’s best league. (The school’s women’s bowling team was also thrust into the fire by playing in a competitive tournament in Alabama to kick things off.)

Next year, he’s looking to play nearly a complete Division II schedule in what will be the team’s probationary season to gain membership into the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

And if everything goes well, Lincoln will be a full-fledged Division II program in 2010.

“On our end, we’re very serious about developing a softball program,” Cummings said.

And for what it’s worth, the team’s players -- most of whom have enjoyed their role as “pioneers” of Lincoln softball -- have taken the lopsided losses in stride. Cummings thought it was telling that all 14 of his girls returned to practice the next day following the West Chester debacle, eager to get back to work.

“They understand they are the first team, and regardless of what happens on the field they take that responsibility seriously,” the coach said. “They’re setting the foundation of what will hopefully be a very strong softball program.”

How strong can the program be? Certainly, there’s a lot of work to be done. But like some of the other infant programs at Lincoln, the school’s softball team is confident it can turn things around.

“We’re coming out next season,” Cook said. “Mark my words, you’ll be surprised at us next season.”

To contact staff writer Dave Zeitlin, email dzeitlin@dailylocal.com.