Hall of Fame
Through 2009, no player in the 33-year history of the fastpitch softball program has started more games at shortstop than Tammy S. Schondelmayer. A member of four straight regional championship teams and one national titlist, Schondelmayer made 153 of her 165 career starts as a shortstop, departing the program as the all-time leader with 279 assists. The New London native took over at shortstop after starting the first nine games of her career in center field. Schondelmayer started 27 games at shortstop that year as the Warriors successfully defended their 1985 national championship. All of her starts over the final three seasons of her career were at shortstop, including the final 100. Schondelmayer’s batting average improved every season, from .250 as a freshman to a team-leading .411 as a first-team all-region selection as a senior. As the program’s first all-region selection ever at shortstop, Schondelmayer topped all Eastern players in 11 individual categories, among them batting, slugging and on-base average, total bases and assists. That season, Schondelmayer set the current program record with an 18-game hitting streak, batting .507 during a month-long stretch. That year, the 5-foot-9 inch, 145-pounder led the Warriors into the national tournament championship round and was named to the national all-tournament team The No. 3 hitter in the lineup, Schondelmayer hit safely in four of five national tournament games and committed only one error on 15 chances. As a junior in 1988, Schondelmayer batted .305 with a team-high 14 stolen bases in 15 tries. As a freshman on the 1986 national championship team, Schondelmayer played perfect defense in eight post-season games, sharing the team lead with 11 assists. In Schondelmayer’s career, Eastern averaged 34.5 wins per season, compiling an overall record of 138-36 for a winning percentage of 79.3. Twenty years after the completion of her career, Schondelmayer still ranks among the program’s all-time Top 10 in nine career categories, among them first in triples (22), third in games, fourth in assists, fifth in stolen bases (51), and sixth in total bases (230). A Dean’s List student, Schondelmayer was the female recipient of an E-Club Outstanding Scholar-Athlete Award and was also named Outstanding Physical Education major in 1990.
