The Plymouth State University Softball team has practiced long and hard and will be looking forward to traveling to Florida next week to compete in the annual Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic.
The Panthers will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2006 season where they finished 8-25 overall and 3-11 in the Little East Conference.
Head coach Bruce Addison will enter his fourth year as the Panther’s head coach. In Addison’s four-year tenure, PSU has produced a 38-59 record.
Despite last year’s hardships, Addison is looking optimistic towards the new season. “We have to try to take one step at a time,” he said. “If we play well, record wise, that’ll take care of itself.”
First up, the Panthers will travel to Fort Myers, Florida where they’ll play 10 games in six days in the round-robin classic. The Panthers will compete first against Lasell College and Elms College on March 18th. The next day, PSU will play against Fredonia State (N.Y.) and Lawrence (Wis.). Before the end of the week, PSU will have played Western New England College, Bowdoin College, Trinity College, Thomas College, Buffalo State and SUNY New Paltz. Seven of the 10 opponents PSU will face posted .500 or better records last year, including two NCAA Tournament teams.
After Florida, PSU will visit UMass Dartmouth, Salem State and Fitchburg State before hosting LEC rival Eastern Connecticut State University on April 7th in their home-opener. The Panthers will wrap up their regular season on April 28th. The top six teams in the Little East Conference will advance to the LEC Tournament in the first week of May. The LEC Champion earns an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament.
PSU posted a .229 team batting average (BA) average last season while opponents batted .289 against them. The Panthers had two players (Leanne Barry, Devin Caswell) who hit over .300 last season while three players posted a .270 BA or better. Plymouth had 64 RBIs (Runs Batted In) while allowing opponents 117 RBI. PSU posted a .938 fielding percentage (FLD %) while committing 61 errors. Altogether, the Panthers had 42 extra-base hits (doubles, triples, home-runs.)
“Pitching will be our strength this year,” said Addison. “We have one strong returnee and three new pitchers coming in.” Last season, the Panthers graduated Rose Eaton who had a 3.16 ERA (Earned Run Average) and went 3-12 in 17 appearances allowing 43 earned runs. Sophomore co-captain Courtney MacFarland will look to be the pitching staff’s ace this season. In 2006, MacFarland went 3-9 in 18 appearances with a 2.40 ERA allowing 28 earned runs. She struck out 63 batters in 81 innings pitched
Along with MacFarland, the pitching staff will include first-years Kat Roland, Beth Moretti and Ashley Pinkham.
“The pitching staff is really good,” said MacFarland. “We have to work with all of them together and we can be pretty good.”
Junior co-captain Lori Pettengill and MacFarland will lead the team this year. The remainder of the team will include; juniors Shauna Isham, Ashley Fleming, Danielle Normand. Sophomores include, Heather Bartolo, Leanne Barry, Rachel Pothier and Amanda Parshley. PSU will also introduce a strong first-year staff including; Jenna George, Kay LaBrie, Ashley Pinkham, Beth Moretti, Sammi Romano, Becca DiPietro, Alyssa Marini, Michelle Kelly and Kat Roland.
“I think we all have the same mindset here for the team,” said Pothier. “I think we have a solid team with everyone having the same intention of wanting to be here.”
Barry will return to left field after leading the team with a .306 batting average. Ishman will likely take over right field after receiving significant playing time the past two seasons and George will assume of position of the starting center fielder. In the infield, Bartolo is slotted at second base while Pettengill and Pothier will take over for shortstop and third base. Romano and Parshley could see time on the left side of the infield this season too. Normand and Fleming will share the first base in 2007. LaBrie, DiPietro and Marini are rookie catchers this season while it appears LaBrie will get the nod at starting catcher.
“We just got to take what we can work with,” said Pettengill. “This team has a lot of potential and I think we can be successful.”
“We definitely have a bond,” said Bartolo. “We basically call ourselves a family. We’re definitely a young team so we’ll be looking to play together for awhile.”