By Josh Sadlock ’12
Photo Courtesy of goleopards.com
Growing up in Washington State, surrounded by pristine forests, mountains and ocean views, Carly Feiro ‘12 is certainly familiar with beautiful scenery. One beautiful scene she was not familiar with, however, was a jubilant group of teammates waiting at home plate to greet her after blasting the game winning home run.
That changed last Sunday. With the Leopards knotted in an extra inning battle with second place Colgate, team captain Feiro stepped to the plate in the bottom of the tenth, and promptly ended the game with a walk-off home run.
“It was getting to the point where we needed to win the game,” she said, “I was just trying to get a hit. I actually didn’t think it was going to go out.”
The home run was her first of the season and the first walk-off hit of her four years playing Lafayette softball. It was, in her words, “the best moment of my career.”
With her time on College Hill drawing to a close, Feiro and her senior teammates still have a chance to add to their favorite memories of Lafayette softball. Although they have been suffering through an up and down season. Feiro believes her team is playing their best at a key time in the season.
The Leopards have climbed to fourth place in the Patriot League, and are poised to return to the Patriot League tournament. Feiro believes this team has the potential to return to the Patriot League championship series, a feat the team has not accomplished since her freshman year.
“We are trying to find something that clicks with this team to get us back to where we were,” she said, “The seniors are driving everyone towards the same goal.”
Following graduation, Feiro will be doing driving of a different sort. She will be taking a road trip home to Washington with a fellow teammate, which will give her an opportunity to savor the beauty of the United States. With an eye on a career in conservation biology, it will be an appreciated experience.
“Being from Washington and surrounded with wilderness and seeing everything become degraded, I just want to work to protect it,” she said.
Working in the national parks department is one possible career path Feiro may choose to pursue. Her work at Lafayette with Professor Rothenberger has prepared her very well for such a career. In her research, Feiro studied the effect of dam removal on the Bushkill Creek. This long-term project, which will not be complete until the dams have been removed, studies macroinvertebrate populations as a barometer of overall water quality. She presented her research at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research at Weber State University in Utah.
Her softball career might be about to end, but things are just getting started for Carly Feiro. She has a promising career in conservation set out for her while also having built a bright future and forged strong friendships, all accomplished while playing the sport she loves. The Pacific Northwest native has accomplished much in the Lehigh Valley.