Editor's Note: The Marist Athletics Department is continuing to highlight its Senior Awards finalists. From April 20-May 15, a feature story will be presented on each finalist for Sportsperson of the Year.
Sportsperson Finalists: Megan Fergus (Volleyball) | Sydney Ford (Women's Rowing) | Alana Gilmer (Women's Basketball) | Denise Grohn (Women's Cross Country/Track) | Rebekah Hand (Women's Basketball) | Samantha Mehalick (Women's Lacrosse) | Anais Mathes (Water Polo) | Ali Milam (Softball) | Juliet Nowak (Swimming & Diving)
Previous finalists: Female Strength & Conditioning (April 14) | Male Strength & Conditioning (April 15) | Female Pizzani (April 16) | Male Pizzani (April 17)
POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – One of the top two-sport athletes in the history of Marist College,
Claire Oberdorf is a finalist for Sportsperson of the Year.
Originally recruited as a softball player, Oberdorf walked onto the women's basketball team in the fall of her freshman year. For the next five years, she made the remarkable look routine as she accomplished the following:
- Named a national top-10 freshman in softball – despite missing the first 10 games of the season due to basketball.
- Led the Red Foxes in hitting as a freshman on the winningest softball team in program history.
- Ranked in the top 25 in the NCAA in minutes played in basketball as a sophomore.
- Honored on the MAAC All-Tournament Team in softball in every conference tournament she played in.
- Appeared in 264 total games between basketball and softball.
No matter what sport she played, Oberdorf displayed a tenacity that set her apart.
"In basketball, they'd be down 20, and you'd see her diving on the floor," head softball coach
Joe Ausanio said. "There was one speed for her, and it was fast forward 24/7. She just excelled at everything she did."
How did Oberdorf end up playing for Marist women's basketball team and
Brian Giorgis? Here's the version through the eyes of Ausanio:
"I remember over the summer of 2015, Coach Giorgis had some issues with transfers leaving the program. I know no coach is ever prepared for that, so me being the dummy I was, I said, 'hey one of the girls coming in as a freshman had an extensive background in basketball, and was even recruited by some schools.'
"He was taken aback, and filed that away. … I remembered they had an injury, and they didn't have a point guard. … I reminded Brian she was a point guard, and a shooting guard.
"I then asked Claire about going to practice with her. They were practicing on the south end of the gym, so Claire and I were warming up on the other end of the court. It was like the scene in Hoosiers when Gene Hackman went to rebound for Jimmy Chitwood. She literally made every shot.
"That was the last I saw of her until March."
By the time January of 2016 rolled around, Oberdorf was consistently in the starting lineup. She appeared in all 32 of the Red Foxes' games that season, and started 20 of them. She averaged over 22 minutes per game.
"I didn't have much time to think about it," Oberdorf said. "I just remember going to practice and staying there."
Ten days in the life of
Claire Oberdorf during her first basketball-to-softball transition:
- Sunday, March 6: Starts and plays 30 minutes in women's basketball's final game of the season against Iona in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship.
- Thursday, March 10: Boards the softball team bus for Baltimore, where the Red Foxes are headed to play five weekend games in the UMBC Dawg Pound Invitational.
- Friday, March 11: Had her first collegiate at-bat in Marist's first game of the day, and her first start in the Red Foxes' second game.
- Sunday, March 13: Completed the tournament with a .462 average (6-for-13) while making starts at three different positions (catcher, second base, shortstop).
- Tuesday, March 15: Named MAAC Softball Rookie of the Week.
"It probably just felt like normal days for me," Oberdorf said. "Having travel practice for basketball one day and softball the next day, in middle school and high school, that's all I did. It just felt normal. I guess that's what kept me calm and cool."
She was just getting started.
The 2016 Marist softball team was the best in program history. The Red Foxes won a school-record 45 games, including 27 out of 28 over a six-week stretch, and captured their third MAAC championship in program history. Four of the five Red Foxes to amass 200 career hits (Maureen Duddy, Rebecca Freeman, Janna Korak, and Kyrsten Van Natta) played leading roles in the lineup, and Oberdorf quickly joined this quartet as a leader.
That season, Oberdorf was named a Top 10 Freshman by the National Fastpitch Coaches' Association. She was the MAAC Rookie of the Year and a MAAC All-Tournament Team selection. She was also named First Team All-MAAC, All-Region and All-ECAC. Oberdorf hit over .400 for most of the campaign, and led the star-studded team with an average of .376. She drove in 39 runs in 48 games.
"Can you imagine if we had her all year?" Ausanio said. "We might have won 50. It was crazy how talented she was."
While the Red Foxes were busy lighting up the scoreboard at a ballpark near you, Oberdorf's older sister was excelling at run prevention.
Jayne Oberdorf was named MAAC Pitcher of the Year in 2016. She went 16-4 with a 2.02 earned run average, tossed a no-hitter against Quinnipiac on April 17, and was named Most Valuable Player of the MAAC Tournament after winning all three of the team's games.
Claire Oberdorf homered in the championship game victory over Monmouth in support of her sister.
"It was one of the best decisions I made, and getting to go to school together was pretty cool," Oberdorf said of being able to play with her sister. "We still play wiffle ball games together in the back yard when we're home."
Oberdorf's basketball role increased in the 2016-17 season. She started all 32 of the Red Foxes' contests, and averaged 10.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
"We had a glaring need," Giorgis said. "We were in desperate need of a point guard. She struggled the first year a bit, but had a great second year. It was one of the most incredible feats a female athlete has had at Marist College."
Oberdorf ranked 23
rd in the NCAA in minutes per game at 36.9, which included a stretch of five straight contests in which she played all 40. She endeared herself to her fan base with her two-sport prowess and all-out playing style.
"I just like getting the job done, and I would do whatever it takes," Oberdorf said. "If a ball wasn't close enough to get to, I'd dive for it. On the court, I wanted the ball. Growing up with a brother and sister and being competitive in the back yard led to that."
On March 4, the Red Foxes faced Fairfield in a MAAC Championship quarterfinal. In the second quarter, Oberdorf fell awkwardly. The resulting knee injury ended her 2017 softball season – one in which she was named Preseason Co-MAAC Player of the Year and the Red Foxes were selected as favorites to defend their championship – just before it was about to begin.
"We were waiting for them to win or lose, and if she lost, she was getting on the train – we were at UMBC again," Ausanio recalled. "In-between games, I saw (Director of Athletics)
Tim Murray had left me a message. That's when he told me the news. I told the team in-between games, and I remember just being heartbroken for her teammates. I think everyone expected her to come in where she left off the previous year."
Oberdorf made it back for the start of the 2018 softball season. Over the next couple years, her versatility and penchant for rising to the occasion stood out.
She spent most of her time at catcher, and was proficient at slowing down the opposition's running game, as she threw out 14 out of 25 potential base stealers (56 percent). With a .290 batting average and 14 stolen bases, she earned Second Team All-MAAC Honors.
The Red Foxes qualified for the MAAC Championship as the #6 seed, and Oberdorf helped lead the team to three victories in the tournament. She batted .533 (8-for-15) and hit safely in all five of Marist's games as she earned All-Tournament honors.
The following season, Oberdorf had a new position, as she transitioned to third base. As the Red Foxes moved into contention for a conference title, Oberdorf caught fire down the stretch. She went 5-for-7 in a doubleheader sweep of Rider on April 29. Her two-run triple in the 10
th inning gave the Red Foxes a key 6-4 win at Canisius on May 4. Two more hits the next day in a win at Niagara helped lock up the #1 seed in the MAAC Championship.
It was during this championship that Oberdorf provided a couple of her signature plays during her Marist career.
On May 9, the Red Foxes opened tournament play against fourth-seeded Iona. With Marist's
Calista Phippen and Iona's Kara Zazzaro both bringing their A-games to the circle, baserunners were at a premium all afternoon long. Iona took a 1-0 lead to the bottom of the seventh. Down to their final out, the Red Foxes had just one hit when Oberdorf stepped to the plate.
"There's no one else we'd rather have up in that situation," Ausanio said.
Oberdorf took a 2-0 pitch from Zazzaro and belted it over the center field wall for a game-tying home run.
Kaley Coltrain then followed with a single, and scored from first on an error one batter later to give the Red Foxes an improbable 2-1 triumph.
The next day, Marist faced Niagara in an elimination game and led by two in the top of the seventh. The Purple Eagles' Kelsey Harrigan lifted a pop-up into foul territory toward the Red Foxes' third-base dugout. It had a chance to go out of play – until Oberdorf hustled and over and made the catch, with her face pressed up against the dugout netting.
"When those moments were there, it just felt the same," Oberdorf said. "I tried to have the same feeling of needing to get a hit every single time, or if the ball came to me, that I was to going to make the play. I don't make any moments too big until after they happen."
Although the Red Foxes fell in the championship game to Monmouth, Oberdorf earned her third MAAC All-Tournament Team selection. She hit .400 (4-for-10) in four games in addition to her defensive heroics.
Oberdorf sat out the 2017-18 basketball season while she recovered from her knee injury. When she returned the following year, the landscape had changed.
The recruiting efforts of Giorgis and his staff made the Red Foxes a deeper team, particularly at point guard.
Grace Vander Weide had arrived from Missouri State, and became the starter.
Allie Best fortified the position, and was playing over 20 minutes per game.
The result was less of an opportunity for Oberdorf, who played in 19 of the team's 33 games, and averaged just over 10 minutes per game in 2018-19. Her role was similar the next season, which provided a dilemma as the 2020 spring semester dawned.
Remain on the basketball team as a reserve on an NCAA Tournament contender, or leave to play softball for a full season?
"That was definitely one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make," Oberdorf said. "That decision just came down which team could I really help. I knew basketball had my back and they'd help me any way they could. Softball, talking to the coaches, just being able to finish a full softball season – that was what I originally came to school for. But I think it worked out for the best."
Indeed, the parting was amicable.
"We both felt she could help softball more than basketball," Giorgis said. "Her minutes were down. She felt she would be more helpful (with softball). She left with our blessing."
The 2020 Marist softball team was primed to contend for a MAAC championship. Oberdorf was in her second year as a captain, along with senior
Ali Milam and junior
Caroline Baratta. Oberdorf and Milam were named candidates for the Senior CLASS Award.
The campaign unfolded with Oberdorf playing three positions – third base, catcher, and second base – and getting her fair share of timely hits. Her two home runs led Marist to a 5-3 win over Belmont on Feb. 16. When the Red Foxes traveled to Lubbock, Texas for the Jeannine McHaney Memorial Classic in early March, Oberdorf took her game to another level.
In an 8-1 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson on March 6, Oberdorf went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs. The next day, the Red Foxes were trailing Fairleigh Dickinson 4-0 when Oberdorf stepped to the plate in the bottom of the fifth. Her next three at-bats led Marist to victory as she drove in all five of the Red Foxes' runs:
- Fifth inning: Her three-run homer made the score 4-3.
- Seventh inning: With Marist down to its final out, her RBI single brought home Baratta and sent the game to extra innings.
- Ninth inning: With the bases loaded and none out, her RBI single brought home Sam Freeland with the winning run.
Oberdorf's final numbers in the tournament resembled what you would normally see in a video game. She hit .588 with 10 hits, 10 RBIs, seven runs scored, and five extra base-hits.
"A couple weekends into softball, I think we had a really special team, and being able to play with them was an experience I'll always remember," Oberdorf said.
On March 10, four years to the day from when she got on the bus to Baltimore for her first collegiate tournament, Oberdorf was named MAAC Softball Player of the Week. Two days later, the 2020 season was canceled.
"She's the best player in the conference," Ausanio said. "I knew it was going to be special to have her for the entire year, and she proved me right."
