Curve Lake softball player won the Horizon League’s Player of the Week Award
By Sam Laskaris
Brittney Moffatt has been on a bit of a tear lately.
And the 21-year-old member of the Curve Lake First Nation received even more of a confidence booster on Monday.Moffatt, who plays second base for the Ohio-based Youngstown State Penguins women’s softball team, captured the Horizon League’s Player of the Week award.
Moffatt, who is in her third year at Youngstown State, batted an impressive .727 in her club’s three latest games, all against the Green Bay Phoenix. She had eight RBIs, scored four runs herself and also whacked a home run and a double in those matches.
Thanks in part to Moffatt’s efforts, Youngstown State defeated Green Bay 10-4 last Friday. After dropping the opener of a doubleheader 10-9 on Saturday, Moffatt and her teammates registered a convincing 17-8 triumph in the second match.
“I had a pretty good week,” said Moffatt, whose mother Lori is Ojibwe. “It’s not like I was really expecting (the award). But I was wondering if I’d get it.”
With her stellar outings against the Phoenix, Moffatt boosted her batting average to .308. Even more impressive is the fact she’s batting .488 (20 for 41) in her last dozen games.
Moffatt, however, maintains she was not in a funk at the plate early on this season. “I wasn’t really struggling,” she said. “I was hitting the ball but right at people and just couldn’t find a hole.”
Some additional work has paid off.
“I went in for extra hitting for my home games,” she said. “For our road games though I didn’t do anything differently.”
The Penguins are enjoying their best season in the program’s history. The squad is sporting an over-all record of 23-17. Youngstown State has a 10-6 conference record, good for third place in the nine-team Horizon League.
Ohio’s Wright State University is leading the conference with a 15-3 mark while the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) is next in line with a 13-4 mark.
The Penguins are back in action today (Wednesday) for some non-conference matches, a doubleheader against Ohio’s Kent State. Youngstown State will then conclude its regular season action next week, with a half dozen games versus Northern Kentucky and Detroit.
“Both of those schools are in the lower half of the standings,” Moffatt said. “I’m hoping we can come up with a sweep in both of those series. I’m hoping we will win all six games.”
The top six finishers will advance to the Horizon League playoff tournament.
Since the Penguins have already racked up wins against both Wright State and UIC, Moffatt said her squad will have its sights on winning the league championship.
“It’s definitely not out of reach for us,” she said. “I think we can definitely win the league.”
Moffatt, who graduated from Lakefield District Secondary School, has one year of playing eligibility after this season at Youngstown State.
But she will not be finished her schooling at that point. She is taking Biology/Pre Med classes and is planning to go to medical school, more than likely somewhere in the U.S.