Heading into their final season, the Sara and Kara duo have many individual accomplishments to feed off of, and they both hope to finish their respective careers with a bang.
Williamson, who earned first team All-Ivy League honors her freshman year and honorable mention her sophomore year, is a leader of Harvard’s offensive attack and represents half of the Crimson’s solid middle infield, manning second base alongside Goldberg at shortstop.
Williamson started this year off strong at the Brecthelsbauer Classic in Carbondale, Illinois, hitting for an average of .364.
“I usually start off really slow, actually, so I was a little bit shocked after the first weekend,” Williamson says. “I was happy with my performance. It’s always a battle learning how to hit in the Ivy Leagues. People think it’s an easy league to hit in, and I thought it was coming in, but it’s not.”
On the defensive side of the ball Williamson keeps a tight middle infield. With Goldberg, Williamson has grown comfortable in her position.
“We’ve both been there all four years and I think we have mastered the art of playing next to each other,” Williamson says. “We also have a lot of fun out there. We try very hard to make Kara smile when she’s on the mound, which is incredibly difficult.”
Brotemarkle headlines a strong Crimson pitching staff, and her accomplishments thus far have been impressive.
She earned second team All-Ivy League honors her sophomore and junior years, is third among Harvard’s all time strikeout leaders with 272, and threw her first no-hitter last year against Columbia.
“Kara is our senior ace,” Allard says. “She’ll be the leader of the staff, and she has established herself as that.”
Brotemarkle hopes to improve her reliability this year and give her offense a better chance to stay in every game.
“I felt like I was too inconsistent last year with my pitching,” Brotemarkle says. “So I definitely want to try and be more consistent in terms of keeping games close.”
Brotemarkle continues to stifle opposing batters with an impressive repertoire of pitches. She already has a strong fastball, curveball, screwball, and riseball, and she just recently added a changeup to her lineup of pitches.
“Everyone is excited about [the changeup],” Brotemarkle says. “We’ve been working a lot this year and trying to incorporate it, and the first weekend when I went out and threw it, I’d say probably 80 percent of the time it was not for a strike, but it’s been getting better every time I’ve thrown it.”
With the leadership of Sara and Kara, the Crimson should have the ability to capitalize on its talent and satisfy team goals. “This year is very focused,” Allard says. “We had a great month of February, and they just came in and focused.”
With only one spring of battle on the diamond left for Sara and Kara, they hope to complete their college softball campaigns on a strong note with no regrets.
“A ring would be nice,” Williamson says. “I just want to be satisfied, I was not satisfied at the end of last year. I want to be crying from happiness, not crying from what we could’ve done or what we should’ve done. We’ve got one shot. Let us walk away happy.”
“I just don’t want to regret anything,” Brotemarkle adds. “I just want to be happy at the end of the year and know that my last year finished well.”
Kara and Sara and the rest of the Harvard squad will take to the field more than 30 times this spring. If they are to take away anything from the season, these captains will ensure that they leave everything on the field.