PC Softball Begins New Era In 10th Year Of Existence
The Lady Blue Hose softball team is preparing to enter their 10th year under a great deal of change.
Gone is head coach Jeff Nickerson, who left the softball program to open a restaurant in the Laurens County community.
Nickerson has been replaced by Dave Majeski, a former All-SEC baseball player at the University of Florida.
Majeski’s first team at Presbyterian will look to end their time in the South Atlantic Conference on the right note after concluding the 2006 season with a 25-33 mark overall and a 6-8 league record.
Presbyterian will be extremely young this season. The squad features just five returning upperclassmen. The five will all start though giving the Lady Blue Hose much-needed leadership in the lineup and the locker room.
The Lady Blue Hose are picked to finish sixth in the SAC by the league’s coaches in their final year in the league. Nevertheless, with a new staff that includes former All-SEC pitcher Mandi Schuerman, PC feels that it could surprise some people and vie for the league crown.
Majeski’s Lady Blue Hose will be fast and furious as PC plans to try and dictate the action in every one of their contests.
The up-tempo style will start from the leadoff slot with junior tablesetter Kellyn Henderson, who in her first two years has been dubbed All-SAC. The Hillcrest High School product hit .301 last season and tied for the team lead in runs (35) with shortstop Rachel Bailey.
Bailey will hit third for the Lady Blue Hose. The Howard, Ohio native hit .344 last season and started in all 51 games that she played in for the Lady Blue Hose.
Looking to drive both of these players in will be cleanup hitter Jessica Peterka. The senior first baseman collected 56 total bases last season and finished the year with four dingers.
All this offense will not mean much though according to Majeski if the pitching does not step up to where it needs to be as the season progresses.
Pitching
Schuerman’s presence can only help the Lady Blue Hose pitchers, who will be looking to step up due to the loss of 2006 staff ace Sam Slater, a volunteer assistant coach on this year’s edition of the Lady Blue Hose.
Two freshman newcomers will lead the charge from the circle for PC in Paige Cassady (Orlando, Fla.) and Mary Gordon (Vernon, Conn.).
The freshman charge will be aided by the senior leadership of pitcher Megan Wheelus (Florence, S.C.), who will be looking to regain her form from the 2005 season when she concluded the season with the most saves in NCAA Division II Softball with six.
Jessica Flanagan (Piedmont, S.C.) and Erin Stewart (Marion, S.C.) will give the Lady Blue Hose depth from the pitcher’s circle. Flanagan has gone 7-11 over the past two seasons, while Stewart was 5-6 last season with a 2.86 ERA.
Infield
Peterka as mentioned will play first base this season for the Lady Blue Hose for the second consecutive season. The Sarasota, Fla. native had a fielding percentage of .980 last season.
Peterka will be backed up at first base by Ashley Ford, who will almost always find a place in the lineup as she will start the season as Majeski’s designated player.
Ford led the Blue Hose in hitting last season with an average of .359. Named to the All-SAC first team last season as a utility player, Ford had a team-high 33 RBIs in the 2006 season.
A native of Marietta, Ga., Ford also tallied a team-high 84 total bases to go along with a team second-best 14 extra-base hits, including a team-high seven home runs.
Junior newcomer Jenny Box (Fruitland Park, Fla.) will start the season at second base where she will be joined in the middle of the infield by Bailey, who was a second team All-SAC choice last season at shortstop.
The hot corner will be held down by a freshman in Myrtle Beach, SC. native Stephanie Payne.
Behind the dish for the second consecutive season will be sophomore Laura Tate. The Spartanburg, S.C. native started in 49 games last year for the Lady Blue Hose at catcher.
Tate hit .294 last year for PC in 153 at-bats, while also collecting 10 extra-base knocks and acquiring 18 RBIs.
Outfield
Henderson is the only returning starter coming into the season in the outfield for the Lady Blue Hose. A first team All-SAC choice in 2005 and a second team selection in 2006, Henderson acquired a team-best fielding percentage of .982 for PC softball players who saw the field in more than 30 contests in 2006.
Newcomer Cari Clark (Monticello, Fla.) will play left field for the Blue Hose this season, while Cassady when not in the circle will start in right field. Cassady will principally be backed up in right field by Flanagan.