simply the best! - Saint Mary's University of Minnesota

Take your pick.
Whether it’s Gina Rizzardi’s
“incredible,” or Teisha
Smith’s “unreal,” or Kateri
Eddy’s “unbelievable,” what
the Saint Mary’s University fastpitch
softball team accomplished on May
21 was indescribable.
The Cardinals became the first
team in school history to capture a
national championship, shutting out
Chapman 5-0 behind the four-hit
pitching of senior Teisha Smith and
the offensive exploits of Jackie
Huegel and Jennifer Miller.
“Our goal every year at the start
of the season is to finish in the top
10 in the country,” said SMU coach
John Tschida, whose team did not
lose a game in the 2000 post-season,
beating Benedictine, Central and
Coe to win the Midwest Regional in
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, then rolling
over Ithaca, The College of New
Jersey and Chapman twice in the
national tournament, in Salem, Va.
“To win the national championship
… it’s quite an accomplishment.”
Quite.
“Every year you say you’d love to
win a national title, but to actually
do it, it’s unreal,” said Smith, who
17