BRISTOL, R.I. – Coming off of solid 2009 campaign in which the team nearly put together a 30-win season, the Roger Williams University Softball team hopes to improve upon last season’s performance and come away with a Commonwealth Coast Conference championship.
The 2009 team compiled a 28-17 record, the Hawks’ fifth 20-win season in six years and the third-highest win total in the program’s history. In the conference, RWU went 17-7 to earn a number-four seed in the playoffs. After a bye and a first-round win, a tough loss to the eventual champions was followed by an extra-inning one-run loss to end the Hawks’ season. Individual highlights for the team included four Hawks making the All-TCCC Team, including three freshmen.
This year, the team returns 11 players and brings in five freshmen among the ten underclassmen. The Hawks will be led by the team’s lone junior and a senior class of five, helmed by team captain Michelle Caprice (Oak Ridge, N.J.). Caprice has been a three-year starter and fixture at the top of the lineup. Alexandra Sera (Newton, Mass.), a strong arm in the rotation, will be counted on for senior leadership. Kerry Burke (Old Saybrook, Conn.) has been a solid defensive third baseman over the past three year for a team that relies heavily on pitching and defense, while Samantha Teves (Somerset, Mass.) strengthened her glove at first over the past two years to go along with a strong bat. Melissa Sereti (Shrewsbury, Mass.) has been a part of the outfield platoon over the past couple of years and can expect to see more time this season.
Sarah Grill (Watervliet, N.Y.), the team’s only junior, has played primarily in center field over the years, but has been putting in time at shortstop during practice to give the team some flexibility if needed. At the plate, she has become a better contact hitter after moving to top of the order last year.
Five sophomores return for their season stint with RWU, including three 2009 all-conference players. Hannah Pirez (Bolton, Mass.) led the team in a number of offensive categories last year including batting average (.345), runs (33), and slugging (.549) and will see the majority of time at short. Erica Castro (Medford, N.Y.), deemed by the coaches as an excellent athlete, will play mostly at second but can play any position on the field. Jaclyn Doolin (Miller Place, N.Y.) will be in the Hawk rotation again this year after an all-conference season in which she posted 21 wins, a 1.92 ERA, and 182 strikeouts. Stacy Broughton (Newtown, Conn.) started and relieved last season, and should do see more innings this year doing both of the same. Natasha Stone (Harrison, N.Y.), coming off a season-ending injury in the first game of spring training last year, has been rehabbing and aspires to play some outfield.
The incoming freshman class consists of Madison Martines (Framingham, Mass.), Laura McConnell (Lexington, Mass.), Hannah Pearson (Warren, R.I.), Lauren Tierney (Middleboro, Mass.), and Kelly Marcin (Windsor Locks, Conn.). Martines played third base in high school, but has made good progress in converting to first base.
McConnell will be part of rotation and has shown the ability to play third as well. Pearson has been working hard at second and the outfield during preseason, showing versatility to give the Hawks some flexibility at different positions. Tierney, an all-conference high school player, will handle the bulk of catching duties, filling in for last year’s starting backstop Christine Bean (’09). Marcin has been making the transition to the college game after earning all-state honors in Connecticut and her bat and versatility on the mound and at first has been impressive thus far.
The Hawks will hop on a plane Saturday morning and head down to Florida to take part in ten games at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic, with their first game Monday against Macalester College. Head Coach Steve Pappas says the team will fine tune where we expect people to be playing and get ready for the conference season.
“We hope to improve during the season and are goal is the same as it is every year: to play our best softball at the end of the season and try to get the highest seed we can as we enter the playoffs.”
The team returns home the following week with their home conference opener against Anna Maria College on March 24.