Commonwealth Softball
Lebanon Valley Favored
LEBANON VALLEY FAVORED TO BECOME CHAMPION
ANNVILLE, Pa. – Lebanon Valley has been selected as the favorite to capture the 2009 Commonwealth Conference softball title in a poll conducted of the conference head coaches.
The Flying Dutchmen received six first-place votes and 43 total points. Lebanon Valley went 27-11 last season while winning it’s first-ever Commonwealth Conference title and earning a berth to the NCAA tournament. The Flying Dutchmen feature the return of the Commonwealth Co-Rookie and Pitcher of the Year in Laura Snyder. Snyder, along with her two teammates Kriten Uhas and Katie DeJulio were also named to the ECAC South All-Star Second Team. Snyder was also named the ECAC South Rookie of the Year. Snyder, an NFCA All-Region pick turned in a brilliant debut season, going 14-4 with a 1.58 ERA while striking out a program single-season record 137 batters. In 106.2 innings of work, she held opponents to a .183 average while sporting a 6-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. She completed 14 of her 17 starts, with two of her outings coming in relief. Uhas, also an NFCA All-Region and First-Team All-Commonwealth honoree, had a breakout sophomore season that saw her capture the conference batting crown with a .436 average while leading the team with 34 RBI and slugging .573. Her 51 hits and 10 doubles also led the team, and Uhas proved to be one of the conference's toughest batters to strike out, fanning just three times during the regular season. Batting out of the three hole, Uhas also scored 18 runs. Also one of the conference's top defensive first basemen, Uhas committed just two errors in 196 chances for a .990 fielding percentage. DeJulio, a Third-Team NFCA All-Region pick, developed into an outstanding slugger during the season, ranking second in the conference in both slugging (.622) and batting average (.389) with 19 RBI and four home runs. DeJulio was second in the conference in sacrifices with 13.
Messiah finished second (21-21, 4-6) in the preseason poll with one first-place vote and 36 points. Messiah concluded its third straight season with 22 wins or more. The Falcons return eight starters from spring 2008, including two All-Commonwealth Conference players in Lindsay Hall and Nicole Adams and one NFCA All-Region player in Hall.
Widener (20-12, 9-1) finished third in the preseason poll with 32 points. Widener finished last season tied for first in the Commonwealth Conference and clinched its first berth in the league tournament. Widener returns six All-Conference players including senior first baseman Krista Cesarine, a second team honoree after being tabbed First Team her freshman and sophomore campaigns. Junior pitcher Kim Dougherty, junior utility player Steph Connolly and senior third baseman Stephanie Caulford were tabbed First Team All-League. Junior outfielder Caitlin Callahan and senior designated player Rachel O’Leary were named Second Team All-Conference.
Elizabethtown (13-24, 5-5) was selected fourth in the preseason poll gaining 27 points.
Sophomore shortstop Paige Tanner was named Second-Team All-Commonwealth Conference. Tanner led the Blue Jays in batting average at .286, and also led the team in runs scored (25), hits (30), doubles (7), triples (3) and walks (22). In two seasons, she has a career batting average of .298 with 47 runs scored, 62 hits, 15 doubles, three home runs and 36 runs batted in. The Blue Jays finished in third place in the Commonwealth Conference. Elizabethtown advanced to the conference finals for the first time since 2003.
Arcadia (17-22, 10-8) comes in fifth with 23 points. The 2008 squad missed out on the Freedom playoffs last season. Despite the loss of valuable experience up the middle of the field, they are loaded with young players full of potential. The Knights return several key players from last year's team, including Kiersten Hughes, a senior, who will anchor a young pitching staff. Senior Jamie Bee and sophomore Virginia Buechel return to the infield corners and will aid their teammates with steady defensive in the infield and an abundance of power at the plate while junior Kristen Burns makes a moves from experienced backup catcher to a starting role in 2009.
Albright (10-28, 3-7) was selected sixth with 19 points. This season the Lions welcome back first-team All-Conference selection Alexandra Keyes. Last year Keyes led the team with a .355 average which included 39 hits and 110 at bats. Keyes led the team with 34 RBI’s, 9 home runs, and 5 triples. Defensively Keyes recorded a fielding percentage of .922% which included 25 putouts and 82 assists.
Lycoming (1-19, 0-10) rounds out the poll with 16 points. Under the direction of new head coach Dan Lazorka, Lazorka will look to turn the program around from last season. Pitcher Chelsea Stein and infielder Lauren Carey will lead the team.
2009 Commonwealth Conference Preseason Softball Poll
1. Lebanon Valley (6) 43 pts
2. Messiah (1) 36 pts
3. Widener 32 pts
4. Elizabethtown 27 pts
5. Arcadia 23 pts
6. Albright 19 pts
7. Lycoming 16 pts
(First place votes in parenthesis)
Freedom Softball
DeSales Favored
DESALES FAVORED IN FREEDOM SOFTBALL POLL
ANNVILLE, Pa. – DeSales has been selected as the favorite to capture the 2009 Freedom Conference softball championship in a poll conducted of the conference head coaches. The Bulldogs ended the season with a school-record 28 wins and just 15 losses, while going 10-2 in the conference. DSU won its first-ever Freedom Conference Championship and advanced to its first-ever NCAA Tournament where it won the first game, 10-3 over Lebanon Valley College, before falling to the University of Rochester in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Regional Tournament. Senior Kelly Moran and senior Amanda Kensecki were each honored being named to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division III East All-Region Team. Both players made their first appearance on the All-Region Team as Moran earned First-Team honors as a designated player, while Kensecki earned Second-Team honors as an outfielder.
Moran had a record-breaking season batting .385 with team-highs of 50 hits, 32 runs scored, 10 doubles, eight home runs and 33 RBI’s. She, along with freshman Kate Steiner broke the single-season record for home runs in a season (8). In addition Moran had a team-best .677 slugging percentage and stole six bases. Kensecki had a tremendous junior season leading the team with a .386 batting average. She finished the year with 49 hits, 24 runs scored, six doubles, one home run and 21 RBI’s. She tallied four stolen bases and had a .971 fielding percentage in right field including five outfield assists.
Misericordia (34-12, 17-4) placed second in the preseason poll after receiving 59 points.
The Cougars have six conference championships under their belt with Coach Charlotte Slocum and finished the 2008 season winning the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship. With 10 letter winners returning from last season, the Cougars are poised to attack their new conference.
Hollie Sarnak returns for her sophomore season after leading the team in hitting (.423), runs scored (47), walks (17), homeruns (10) and RBIs (45). Sarnak will start at third as a key piece to an experienced infield. Gina Urbon moves to first, Lindsay Miller returns to second and Nicole Wenner returns to shortstop. Urbon (.359) and Wenner (.344) were fourth and fifth in hitting last season.
King’s was selected third in the poll after garnering 57 points. The Monarch’s finished 2008 with a 20-13 record, 8-4 in the conference. This is the 12th straight season the Monarchs have reached the 20-win plateau. Two returning members of the King's College softball team were chosen to the 2008 All-Freedom Conference squad. Earning a spot on the first team for a third consecutive year was junior infielder Abbey Knoblauch, while sophomore pitcher Lindsey Hoerner were named to the second team.
Knoblauch posted a .396 (40-101) batting average with three home runs, three doubles, 13 RBI, and scored 21 runs while drawing 19 bases-on-balls. She also tallied 52 total bases and posted a .515 slugging percentage. Hoerner enjoyed a strong year not only as a pitcher, but also at the plate. In the circle, she posted a 10-7 record with a team best 1.89 earned run average while leading the team with 68 strikeouts in 107 and two-thirds innings. Offensively, she led the Lady Monarchs with a .417 (30-72) average with six home runs, six doubles, and 24 RBI. She netted 54 total bases and a .750 slugging percentage.
FDU-Florham was picked to finish fourth in the poll with 32 points. The College at Florham Devils finished with the most wins in school history, 28, while having 18 losses. As a team in 2008, the Devils finished with the second most home runs (21), first in doubles (88), first in triples (18), first in runs scored (272) and first in RBI (235). Returning for her junior season will be first team All-Conference infielder Christine Heyl.
Manhattanville (15-23, 4-8) was picked fifth in the poll with 40 points. The Valiant’s will look for a return to the postseason in the program’s second year in the Freedom Conference this season. They return all five pitchers and a strong nucleus for 2009. Nicole Bifulco (.321 BA), Lindsay Zekus (.320% BA) and Kathryn Moore (.319% BA) will lead the offensive charge.
Wilkes (26-14, 4-8) comes in the 2009 season picked sixth with 38 points. They return sophomore shortstop Gina Stefanelli. Stefanelli is a two-time first team All-Freedom Conference performer as well as being named the Freedom Player of the Year this past season. She was also named to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division III All-East Region Second Team. Five additional players were named to the All-Conference team. Second baseman Kathy Dalton and third baseman Melisa Bracone, freshman pitcher Lindsay Behrenshausen and outfielder Alex Ingram earned spots on the second team.
Delaware Valley (18-9, 7-7) was picked seventh with 35 points. The Aggies qualified for the conference playoffs for a second straight year. They were the third seed and reached the Freedom Conference Championship Game for the first time in program history. They were led by a two-time, All-Freedom Conference honoree, Bethany Pavlik. She led the Aggies in nearly every offensive category in '08. She batted .385 with a .679 slugging percentage, a .431 on-base percentage, 42 hits, eight doubles, eight home runs, 11 stolen bases, 30 runs scored and 33 RBIs.
Alvernia (31-12, 16-4 PAC) was chosen eighth in the poll with 30 points. The Crusader softball team was paced by a mixture of youth and experience as they set a new team record for wins with 31, surpassing the 2002 record of 24. After an early exit in the PAC Championships, Alvernia earned their second bid ever to the ECAC Championships. Alvernia will return their top four hitters and two aces as they enter the Freedom Conference for the 2009 season.
Eastern (20-22) rounds out the poll earning 25 points. The Eastern season ended with the Eagles picking a program best 20 wins for the year. The Eagles will return a strong core for 2009 which include shortstop Allissa Brubaker who earned PAC second team honors as an infielder.
2009 Freedom Conference Preseason Softball Poll
1. DeSales (6) 70 pts
2. Misericordia 59 pts
3. King’s (3) 57 pts
4. FDU-Florham 51 pts
5. Manhattanville 40 pts
6. Wilkes 38 pts
7. Delaware Valley 35 pts
8. Alvernia 30 pts
9. Eastern 25 pts
(First place votes in parenthesis)