Photo: St. Bonaventure Athletics
BY NATHAN DONNELLY, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
When the St. Bonaventure University softball team formed in 1988, Molly Quattrone took the helm as the program’s first-ever head coach. Following Quattrone’s three seasons, Cindy Ryan-Nannen coached SBU with limited success. The Brown and White failed to record a conference win under Ryan-Nannen during her tenure from 1991-1993.
Bonaventure started to find its footing in 1996, during the last year of Bonaventure alumni Todd Randall’s stint. Randall led the Bonnies to a 10-29 record. SBU’s six conference wins that season were more A-10 wins total than all A-10 wins in previous seasons of the program combined. Randall coached a pair of Bonnies softball greats that season, with Jen Bovee anchoring his lineup and Amy Ingham leading his pitching staff.
Both Bovee and Ingram cemented themselves in the Bonaventure record books throughout their careers. Bovee stands fifth all-time in career batting average and first all-time in career triples. She recorded five triples in 1997 and four triples each in 1996 and 1998. Ingham proved a workhorse for the Bonnies, pitching in 390 innings from 1995-1998 and registering 240 punchouts in the process. Both of those totals rank her fifth all time.
Bonaventure gave Mike Threehouse the reign following the program’s best season in 1996. Threehouse, a 1989 Bonaventure graduate, has numbers of his own in the record books as a former Bonaventure baseball player. Threehouse’s senior season batting average of .422 in 1989 ranks second best in school history. That same season he put up a .725 slugging percentage.
2005 proved a successful season for Threehouse and his associate coach David Matz. The Bonnies qualified for the A-10 tournament.
Matz reflected on his time with the team, and some exciting memories that came in the playoffs.
“Our first game, against St. Joe’s, went 11 scoreless innings, until we managed to score a run in the top of the 12th,” said Matz. “Our pitcher set down St. Joe’s 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 12th, for our first-ever A-10 tourney win 1 -0!”
Bonaventure continued winning in 2006, ending the season with a 23-22 record (12-6 A-10), the most wins in school history. After dropping their first three conference games, the Bonnies won 11 of their next 13 A-10 matchups and qualified for the A-10 tournament.
There, the Brown and White would lose in the second round to the University of Massachusetts. With sweeps of conference foes Saint Louis, Dayton, LaSalle, and George Washington, Threehouse’s efforts would earn him 2006 A-10 Coach of the Year honors.
The Bonnies recorded 20 wins again in 2008. They clinched a postseason berth after winning 11 games in A-10 play. Senior third basemen Brianna Bricker earned all A-10 honors, along with pitcher Sherri Thompson. Thompson finished the season with an ERA under three, and Bricker recorded a .271 batting average with five home runs and a .323 on-base percentage.
Matz remembers the 2008 team for its achievements in the classroom.
“I was very proud of the players when their hard work resulted in our 2007 and 2008 teams compiling the highest team GPA of any Division I softball program in the nation,” said Matz.
Since their 2008 postseason appearance, the Bonnies have not made it back, or recorded a winning record in conference play. In Threehouse’s 24th season, Bonaventure currently stands at 3-23 with six games to go.
donnelnp23@bonaventure.edu
