Morgan Nandin and Stacy Kuwik are like family on the field. They always know where the other is on the diamond.

‘Me and Morgan definitely have a pitcher-shortstop sort of relationship,’ said Kuwik, the pitcher. ‘I have a lot of confidence in her at shortstop. She makes it look so easy.’

So when the two freshmen put their pens to the paper and signed on to play for the Orange in November, it meant that the next four years would be similar to the past two. Nandin, Syracuse’s starting shortstop, and Kuwik, one of the team’s starting pitchers, spent their last two summers playing together for TC Tremors Gold, a travel softball team out of Endicott, N.Y.

‘I was really excited that (Nandin) was going to be on the team because of her level of play,’ Kuwik said.

Both players have had an immediate effect on the field for the Orange this season. Nandin is hitting .276 through 10 games, above the team batting average of .244. She’s combined that with flawless defense, evidenced by her 1.000 fielding percentage. Kuwik has started three games in the circle, going 1-2. She threw a one-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts against Bryant in her second career start.

‘Getting to play with them on the Tremors was probably the biggest honor,’ said Mary Beth Dombrowski, a junior at Bethlehem (N.Y.) High School and a member of the Tremors who has verbally committed to Syracuse. ‘Stacy is probably one of the most intelligent people I know. Morgan is absolutely the smoothest fielder I’ve ever seen.’

Their fast starts this season can be attributed to the level of competition that the two faced while playing for the Tremors. Last season, the Tremors – a regional-select travel team comprised of some of the area’s best players – played in the American Softball Association 18-and-under Gold National Championship, a 64-team tournament featuring the best travel teams in the nation.

Having a teammate that she has played with behind her has really helped Kuwik on the mound. Shortstop is one of the most important positions defensively, and she trusts Nandin to make the plays.

‘She’s so great at what she does,’ Kuwik said. ‘You see things done in baseball that you never think could be done in softball, but she makes it happen.’

Lou Bishop, the coach of the Tremors, witnessed firsthand the chemistry that the two players have together.

‘Morgan knows what to expect from Stacy, and Stacy knows what to expect from Morgan,’ Bishop said. ‘If there’s a ball hit anywhere near her (Nandin), Stacy knows the play’s going to be made. If there’s a tough situation that Stacy has to get out of, Morgan feels confident that Stacy’s going to get out of it.’

For both Nandin and Kuwik, deciding on the Orange was not a difficult decision. Nandin said she just woke up one day and decided that Syracuse was the right place to be, choosing Syracuse over Auburn, South Florida, Fordham and St. John’s. Kuwik wanted to fulfill her dream of playing Division I softball and picked SU over Colgate, Elon, Chicago-Illinois and Hartford.

‘There were many other schools that were looking at both of them,’ Bishop said. ‘I helped them to the best of my abilities with all their questions. They loved (SU head) coach (Leigh) Ross and everything about Syracuse when they visited.’

It’s uncertain how much of an effect Nandin and Kuwik will have on Syracuse, but if the influence they had on the Tremors is any indication, they will be strong leaders.

‘I just want to keep playing well to help the team,’ Nandin said. ‘I want to win the Big East this year and make the NCAA tournament, go to the World Series. I want to help make everyone else on the team better.’

mcooperj@syr.edu

Published on March 1, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Mark: mcooperj@syr.edu | @mark_cooperjr