For almost any other team, finishing the season with a loss in the regional title game would be considered an achievement, but the St. Thomas softball team always strives for more.

Led by coach John Tschida, the Tommies have enjoyed an impressive streak of success in the past 10 seasons. In that span, Tschida compiled a 406-61 record, including a 234-10 record against conference opponents and back-to-back national championships in 2004 and 2005.

Coming close to nationals last year has made the team motivated this season.

“Last year I felt like we kind of peaked at the wrong time,” senior infielder Chandran Duffy said. “We had a good season, but we just didn’t get it done in regionals. I think this year everyone kind of has the same goal and is working towards it.”

Tschida said the team’s goal is to be a top national team and a contender for a title.

“That’s always a goal, but the process is the main goal you know, to work every day,” Tschida said. “You have to improve every day and put yourself in the position to be successful.”

The team just completed a successful Florida trip where it finished 10-2. The Tommies batted .362 while facing great pitching, including two All-American pitchers.

“The Florida trip was a lot of fun,” senior pitcher Biz Sitzmann said. “It was a lot of hard work and learning. We got to know each other a lot more as a team since we do have quite a few freshman this year.”

St. Thomas returns 19 players, including eight seniors, and adds 11 freshmen to the squad this season.

Tschida said, “What was more impressive was all the young kids, the way they swung the bat and not only swung the bat but did so aggressively. I think this is the most depth that I’ve ever had, and I’m confident enough where I feel comfortable just changing my lineup completely over and feeling like we don’t miss a beat.”

In a vote by league head coaches, St. Thomas was chosen to win the 2011 MIAC softball race, but is unranked in the Division III 2011 preseason poll. The Tommies swept St. Mary’s Wednesday in Winona to improve to 16-4 overall and 2-0 in the MIAC.

Tschida’s teams have been known for their exciting style of play, where anything can happen at any moment.

“We’ll always hit the ball well, run the bases aggressively. We’ve usually been in the top five in the nation in hitting, top five in stolen bases,” Tschida said. “We usually have very good pitching. Our pitching’s not quite as good as we’ve had in the past, but our hitters are as good as we’ve had.”

Sophomore third baseman Fantashia Gates-Colbert said she also likes what she has seen from the team so far.

“We have a lot of different talents that we can put together,” she said. “We have girls that can hit bombs over the fence, we have fast girls and we have some slower girls. But they have power, which is good. We have a lot of great arms.”

The Tommies play Carleton at 1 p.m. Saturday at home.

Tom Graves can be reached at grav5886@stthomas.edu.