Fusco Sisters End Season as Teammates

Beth Ann Fusco of Laurel was listed as a senior this season for the softball team at McDaniel, a Division III program in Westminster. And she took part in Senior Day events last month with some of her teammates.

And while McDaniel ended its season on Sunday, there is a chance Fusco could return to the Green Terror team in 2012. A graduate of St. Vincent Pallotti High in Laurel, Fusco has one more year of college eligibility left if she wants to use it. She broke her hand as a freshman and was a redshirt that year, then played the last three seasons for McDaniel.

She plans to enter graduate school at McDaniel in the fall, and that means she would be eligible for a fourth and final season of college softball if she wants to play.

"Right now it is a lot of heartache," Fusco said Sunday night after her team lost a doubleheader at Bridgewater (VA) College and ended the year 14-26. "I need a little time to step back and see how much I miss it. I want to be fully committed if I play next year."

The NCAA allows a player to take part in four seasons over a five-year period if they gain a redshirt season.

If Fusco returns for a fourth season, she would get the chance to be teammates once again with her sister, Lauren, a junior outfielder this season at McDaniel. The two were teammates for three years at Pallotti and also played on the same travel club, based in Bowie, when they were younger.

Their older sister, Kristin, also played softball at Pallotti and for Division I Mount St. Mary's in Emmitsburg. Last summer all three were teammates on a club team based in Carroll County.

Beth Ann, who turns 23 in January, joked that she would be "the old lady on the team" if she played for McDaniel next spring. She was a catcher for the Green Terror as a sophomore, played second base last year and moved to shortstop this season.

Lauren Fusco said it would be sad if her sister does not play next year. "I really hope she does. I have been playing with her since she was 5," she told Patch on Monday. "I was in left field and she played short in the first game at Bridgewater."

This year Beth Ann hit .220 in 100 at bats and played in all 40 games. In some games the sisters were the first and second batters in the lineup for head coach Phil Smith. Lauren played in 20 games and hit .182 in 44 at bats.

An art major, Beth Ann plans to work toward a master's in liberal arts in the fall. Lauren is studying psychology.

Besides her younger sister, whom she is close to off the field, Beth Ann said another motivating factor to play in 2012 would be to try to make the playoffs. She has yet to make post-season play in the Centennial Conference, where the top four teams made the playoffs this season. McDaniel was 4-12 in league play this season, finished in seventh and lost, 13-3 and 10-1, on Sunday in the non-league games at Bridgewater, near Harrisonburg in the Shenandoah Valley.

So what happens if Lauren plays again next year when her sister will be a senior? "I want her to have her own Senior Day. Coach wanted to make sure I had a Senior Day since I was not sure if I was playing next year," Beth Ann said of this year's ceremony.

"It would be weird not having her here," Lauren said.

Softball notes: Other former Pallotti standouts with college softball teams this spring include Maryland freshman Kelly Trimble, Division II Tampa freshman Karlyn Buker, Gettysburg (PA) College senior Meagan Lott and York (PA) College senior Kelly Smith.

A third baseman, Smith was named all-Capital Athletic Conference for the fourth time on Thursday after she drove in a team-high 21 runs this season.

Other players with Laurel ties include Meagen Hess and Lauren Decker of Washington Adventist, a Division II program in Takoma Park. They are both Laurel residents.

Former Pallotti head coach Paul O'Brien is an assistant coach at Shippensburg (PA) University, a Division II program that is 28-13.

Pallotti High is slated to end regular-season play Tuesday against Elizabeth Seton in a home game at Fairland Regional Park in West Laurel. The Panthers beat Chapelgate, 7-4, on Friday for just their second win of the season after eight losses.