PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Throughout her softball career, Abby Bettencourt has played in some of the biggest games imaginable. But this past Saturday, she stepped onto the field for the biggest one yet — and it meant more than just what happened between the bases.
Bettencourt helped lead Brown University to an Ivy League Tournament championship, securing the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 1997 — when her mother, Lauren Bettencourt, was a member of the team.
On Saturday, No. 4 Brown pulled off its third upset in as many days, defeating No. 1 Princeton 4-1 in the Ivy League championship game. The win marked just the second time Brown has clinched a berth in the NCAA Tournament, the last coming when Bettencourt’s mother was a senior.
“I don’t even know how it was possible. The fact that it has been this long since Brown has made it there, and then my freshman year we made it, it’s kind of crazy,” Abby said. “This has been something my mom and I talked about since I was young. She always told us about winning her Ivy League ring, and we’d go back and forth, and I told her I’ll just go there and win my own. The fact that it actually happened is crazy to even think about.”
For Lauren, getting to watch from the stands brought back memories of her playing days.
“Princeton has all of their years listed on the walls of when they won the Ivy’s and when they went to the NCAA’s, and they went in ‘94, ‘95, ‘96, which was my freshman, sophomore, and junior years. Then my senior year we beat them and won the Ivy’s and went to the NCAA’s,” Lauren said. “So sitting there and looking at the numbers on the wall brought back a lot of memories, and a lot of my teammates were sending messages and watching the game as well.”
It wasn’t an easy road to the final. Brown had to face top-seeded Princeton on Thursday, where the Bears earned a 4-0 win to advance to play No. 3 Columbia.
Against Columbia, Bettencourt stepped up. The freshman went 3-for-3 with the game-winning RBI single to left field in the top of the sixth inning. Brown won 2-1, and Bettencourt was named Player of the Game. The victory set up a championship rematch with Princeton.
In the title game, Bettencourt delivered. With the bases loaded and no outs, she hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring a runner to make it 4-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning. A pop-up to second base in the bottom of the seventh ended the game, and Bettencourt, along with her teammates, was named an Ivy League Tournament champion.
“It feels amazing. We’ve been working for this all year. Since the beginning, this has been our end goal. With the coaching change and everything, the seniors have been through a lot,” Abby said. “It really makes everything feel like it paid off, all the hard work and the six in the morning practices.”
Bettencourt said it was “special” when asked what it meant for her team to be next to her mom’s team in the Brown history books.
“It’s something you think about but never actually think would actually happen,” Abby said. “You come to our field in the future, and the two years you’re going to see are my mom’s senior year and my freshman year next to each other.”
Lauren was hopeful that Abby would win an Ivy League championship, but admitted she wasn’t expecting it to happen during her freshman year.
“It was amazing to watch. It’s something I hoped that she would experience at some point during her career, I just didn’t expect for it to be this soon or maybe even at all,” Lauren said. “When I actually won, it was against Princeton in Princeton, too. It was pretty cool.”
Abby was complimentary of her mother, acknowledging all the “sacrifices” she made so Abby could become the best softball player she could be.
“She’s the reason that I’m where I am today. She’s driven me to all the places I needed to go. She made sacrifices to make sure that I was able to get to tournaments that I needed to be at, despite the time, cost, and effort it took,” Abby said. “She was just always there to keep me steady emotionally, too. She made sure that I never lost the love for the game and remembered why I was doing it.”
After the game, Bettencourt got to pose with the Ivy League trophy in front of her mom.
“Seeing her after the game and taking a picture with her and the trophy was really special,” Abby said.
Now, Bettencourt and her teammates will travel to Texas to take on No. 1 Texas Tech in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at 5:30 p.m.
“We’re looking forward to embracing it. There are no expectations, we’re going to be playing one of the best teams in the country against one of the best pitchers in the country. It’s going to be a crazy experience because this is what you watched on TV, and now you get to play in it,” Abby said. “I’m going to take in the experience and the atmosphere and embrace the opportunity that we’re allowed to go there and compete.”
