[Kutztown Press Release] 2007 PSAC Softball Championship Preview

Wed May 2 10:40:49 EDT 2007

2007 PSAC Softball Championship Preview
         Kutztown University will serve as host for the 2007 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships, Thursday-Saturday, May 3-5.

         All of the games of the six-team, double-elimination tournament will be played at Kutztown University's North Campus Field.  Kutztown and Lock Haven have clinched the #1 seeds from the PSAC East and West, respectively.  Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg are the #2 and #3 seeds from the East.  Edinboro and California (PA) are the #2 and #3 seeds from the West.  

        Bloomsburg and California will get the tournament started at 10:00 AM on Thursday.  Edinboro will face East Stroudsburg at noon.  Lock Haven faces the winner of game one at 2:30 PM, while Kutztown takes on the winner of game two at 4:30 PM.  

    On Friday, game five features the losers of games one and two at 10.  In game six, the losers of games three and four face off at noon.  At 2:30, the winners of games three and four play in game seven, followed by the winners of games five and six in game eight.  Saturday's games start at 11:00 AM with the winners of game eight vs. the loser of game seven.  The championship game is next at 1:00 PM, with another game to follow if necessary.  

    Kutztown will provide live webcasts of games one, two and four. Lock Haven is expected to webcast game three.  The schedule for Webcasts of the Friday-Saturday games is to be determined.   Those games that are available via Webcasts will be accesible at the tournament homepage.  In addition, results and box scores for all games will also be available at the tournament homepage.(click here). 

    Below are capsules on each of the six teams in the competition, in alphabetical order.

Bloomsburg: Bloomsburg, the number two seed from the East, comes into the tournament with a mark of 32-11, 18-6 in the PSAC East. Bloomsburg is making its 24th appearance in the last 25 years in the PSAC playoffs. Head coach Jan Hutchinson, the NCAA Division II all-time leader in career softball wins, needs just two victories to reach 1,600 for her career between softball and field hockey. She will be looking to lead the Huskies to their 15th PSAC title and first since the 2002 season. Offensively, Bloomsburg is led by freshman Nikki Shiko who is batting .404 with four homers and 12 RBI. Sophomore shortstop/pitcher Tara Reed is second at .383 with a team-high 13 doubles to go with three homers and 18 RBI. Leading the Huskies in homers is Missy Bachert with six to go along with 19 runs batted in. Ashley Lynn leads the pitchers with a mark of 18-3 and a 1.33 ERA. Lynn has fanned 169 in 131 innings and opponents are hitting just .186 off the junior. 

California (PA): Cal has clinched its 19th-straight PSAC Tournament bid.  After rebounding from a 3-10 start,  Cal has won 11 of its last 16 games to finish the regular season with a 14-15 record.  Head Coach Rick Bertagnolli, in his 14th season at Cal, recently posted his 500th victory on the Vulcan sidelines.  Bertagnolli, who guided the Vulcans to five PSAC Championships (1996-2000) and two NCAA Championships (1997-98), has more wins than any coach in California University athletics history.  The Vulcans rely on the leadership of senior shortstop Megan Timpf, a 2006 PSAC West second-team all-star.  Timpf is fourth on the team with a .333 average and leads the Vulcans with seven extra base hits.  Three other returnees who have put a charge in the Cal offense: junior centerfielder Deanna Valentino (.376), junior 1B/DH Amanda Collins (.308) and sophomore 3B Heather Bihler (.337).  The pitching staff is led by sophomore Meghan Johnson (7-4, 2.03 ERA), who had seven strikeouts during a perfect game against Clarion on April 13.  Top newcomers include 2B Kayleigh Braim (.344, team-high 12 walks), 1B Julie Mackenzie (.224, team-high 17 runs and 16 RBI) and pitcher Sonia Petrosoniak (3-3, 3.15 ERA).

East Stroudsburg: East Stroudsburg , the number three seed in the east, enters the tournament with a 23-24 record, 14-10 in the division.  The Warriors are coached by first year head coach Jill Fuduric.  ESU is led by a pair of seniors in the middle infield in shortstop Jen Veronisi and second baseman Shannon Dietrich. Veronisi holds nearly every school record, including runs scored (122), RBI (89), home runs (17), triples (14) and stolen bases (68). She is hitting .315 this season, leads the Warriors with 27 RBI and 27 runs, and ranks in the top 10 in the country with 38 stolen bases. Dietrich has team-highs with a .325 batting average and a .432 on-base percentage in 2007.  In the circle, senior Crissy Wontroba and junior Kristen Halvorsen have started all but two games for the Warriors. Wontroba is 13-8 with a 3.22 ERA and 105 strikeouts, while Halvorsen has posted a 3.09 ERA and 117 strikeouts is 10-14 on the season.

Edinboro: Edinboro claimed its first PSAC playoff berth since 1990 with a strong finish to its regular season.  The Scots have won their last four games, including a sweep of IUP on Monday to clinch the playoff berth, then a rain shortened 3-1 victory over California (PA) on Tuesday to earn the West's #2 seed.  The Fighting Scots' 19 wins on the season are the most since the 2000 team won 21 games, and the 12 conference wins are also the most since a 14-6 finish in 2006.  The playoff appearance in 1990 came in the second season of head coach Dan Gierlak's tenure, as he now concludes his 18th campaign as Edinboro's head coach.  Vanessa Rose has a 13-12 record with a 1.96 ERA.  In 160.2 innings, she has allowed 133 hits and 18 walks while striking out 183.  The lefthander shut out every team in the PSAC West at least once, including a 1-0 shutout of top-ranked Lock Haven, while matching her career high with 13 strikeouts.  She holds EU's single-season innings pitched record and needs seven strikeouts for that single-season mark.  2B Dana Webb leads the Scots with a .382 average, with three home runs and a team-high 24 RBIs.  SS Katelyn Gurgiolo is next at .330 and has a team-high 14 stolen bases.  3B Danielle Arno is only hitting .264, but has set the single-season record for home runs with seven, and has 23 RBIs. 

Kutztown: Kutztown, the number one seed from the PSAC East, enters the tournament with an overall record of 40-14, including a 22-2 mark in the PSAC East.  KU was ranked #15 in the nation in the April 25 poll.  KU won its second regular-season PSAC East title under 20th-year head coach Judy Lawes.  Kutztown features a potent offensive attack, leading the PSAC in almost every offensive category.  The high-powered offense is led by sophomore 1B Steph Denlinger, who is hitting .500 (62-124) with 61 runs scored, 67 RBI and a PSAC record 23 home runs.  Center fielder Adriane Willmer is hitting .419 (65-203) with 60 runs scored and 21 RBI.  She is Kutztown's all-time leader in hits and runs scored.  Utility player Ashley Fitzgerald hits .404 (67-166). with a KU record 19 doubles, 10 home runs and 57 RBI.  3B Krista Cameron is hitting .364 (60-165) with 40 runs, 18 doubles, 14 homers and 54 RBI.  Freshman pitcher Kaitlin Arbogast is 25-7, having won her last 19 decisions.  She has struck out a school record 252 batters in 213.2 innings and has a 1.87 earned-run average.

Lock Haven: Lock Haven enters as the number one seed from the west.  In her eighth season, head coach Kelly Green has led LHU to a number-two national ranking and holds a 41-2 overall record, 19-1 in the division.  Last season was a banner year for LHU. The team captured the PSAC West regular season title, the PSAC tournament title, they won the NCAA Division II Mid-Atlantic region and are defending NCAA Division II National Champions.  With the help of ace pitcher Kristen Erb, they are directing Lock Haven to the best record in the PSAC for the second consecutive year.  Erb boasts an ERA of 0.26 on the year and is 28-1 this season when on the mound.  Sophomore 3B Sarah Norris leads the Lady Eagles with ten home runs, reaching double digits in that category for the second year in a row. Second baseman Devin Glezen leads the offense in batting average (.391) while hitting five home runs and 24 RBIs.  Shortstop Ilia Lopez is the team leader in runs (35), RBIs (42), total bases (82), and on base percentage (.445).

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Josh Leiboff
Kutztown University Sports Information
Phone: (610) 683-4182
Fax: (610) 683-4676
Email: leiboff at kutztown.edu
Website: http://www.kubears.com
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