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2001 Season Outlook Cedarville University hopes to build upon the momentum established during last spring's softball season and see even greater things happen in 2001. The Lady Jackets welcome back a solid nucleus of players from a team that put together a 24-15 record which was the program's first winning season in ten years. They also won their first-ever NCCAA Midwest Region title and qualified for the NAIA Region IX Tournament thanks to a fourth-place finish in the American Mideast Conference with a 15-9 mark. It's easy to be optimistic. "I believe we can be better than last season," proclaimed second-year head coach Sue Carpenter. "I think our defense will be solid despite being young in a couple key positions. Offensively, we're more versatile and more confident at the plate. Last year was a major step in the right direction for us and we're anxious to see what happens this year." It's no secret that the key returning player is senior utility player Megan Petersen. The 5-foot-9 righthander transferred from the University of Iowa and promptly posted a school-record 20-7 mark on the mound, an AMC-leading 0.77 earned run average, and a team-high .421 batting average. Among her many accolades, Petersen was named an NCCAA All-American as well as Cedarville's Female Athlete of the Year.
"Megan fit in immediately with our team," said Carpenter. "She was no doubt one of the primary reasons we were successful. However, she is a ‘team' player and her leadership influence was nothing but positive." Sarah Bishop, Elissa Morrison, and Beth Weaver are all seniors who return for their fourth years in the program. Bishop joins Petersen as one of the team's co-captains. She started all 36 games in which she played last year in the outfield. Morrison is an excellent defensive player at second base who sports a career .981 fielding percentage. Weaver batted .255 last year with a team-high 18 RBI's and all 37 of her starts were at first base. Both players were NAIA and NCCAA All-America Scholar-Athletes. One of the most improved players is junior Debbie Krick, who batted .337 with 10 doubles and 15 RBI's. She was named to the NCCAA Midwest Region All-Tournament Team.
A quartet of sophomores are back after receiving valuable playing experience last spring. Abby Stafford batted .293 in 34 games as both an outfielder and designated hitter; Denaye Hilty appeared in 36 games mostly in the outfield; Sarah Tsermengas saw action in 20 contests but was hampered by a mid-season injury; and lefthander Julie Burt made 11 appearances on the mound with a 3.65 ERA. The freshmen class will be called upon to make a positive contribution. The list includes infielder Tana Adams, catcher Courtney Green, shortstop Ashley Smith as well as outfielders Annie Stafford and Christa Stanford. Highlighting the home schedule is the NCCAA Midwest Region Tournament on April 20-21. The Yellow Jackets also host games on eight other dates including seven AMC doubleheaders. | ||||||||
