University of the Cumberlands 05-06 Softball Preview

The University of the Cumberlands Softball team has much to look forward to this season as they welcome many new talented players to add depth and balance to an already strong group of athletic ladies. The Patriots Softball team finished last season with an 18-17 record and many accomplishments were made. With so much talent on the team, the ladies look to only make records better this season.

The Patriots Softball team had two key losses due to graduation last season. Brittany Frank ( Cincinnati, OH) and Sara Hawkins ( London, KY) were both outstanding contributors on the field. Both young ladies were voted All-Conference players and Hawkins was nominated Player of the Week for the NAIA as well. The team will greatly miss the two players, but fill there are many able and willing to step up and fill their shoes.

The Patriots welcome five key players to the field who will all add various talents. These newcomers include Samantha Kooch from Knoxville, TN. Kooch knows the field from different angles and knows how to play each of them the right way. Lara Jackson from Hawesville, KY should see a lot of time at shortstop this season with her quick and very smooth moves on defense. Brittany Turner from London, KY will provide a strong arm behind the plate. Lauren Collier, an outstanding pitcher from Louisville, KY, should see a great deal of varsity time on the field. Lastly, Katie Kitchen from Georgetown, KY will find her way in the lineup with a forceful bat.

All of these players will make an impact to the team’s success this season and will add to what the returning players have already established. Returnees this season include Ashley Rismiller, an outstanding pitcher from Maryville, TN, who was on the Mid-South Conference (MSC) All-Conference Team. Whitney Piar from Lancaster, OH is also a great pitcher with great presence on the mound. Sabrina McCullough, a senior from Georgetown, KY is an outstanding catcher who is also a MSC All-Conference recipient and an NAIA All-Region honoree. Erin Clancy, a senior from Knoxville, TN, has proved to be a steady hitter who can play several positions for the team. Melanie Downey, a senior from Lexington, KY adds great speed and hustle to the team and has also made the MSC All-Conference squad. Lastly, Marie Vickers, a senior from Knoxville, TN also adds outstanding speed and force to the team and has proved to be an outstanding right fielder.

There were several season records broken last year. Freshman, Whitney Piar had the most winning games, with a total of ten, she also set the lowest ERA with an outstanding 1.94, she allowed only 68 hits and 33 runs and 18 base on balls, Piar also tied with junior Ashley Rismiller with one shut-out a piece. Rismiller, however, held the record for strikeouts with 68. Rismiller, who was an outstanding pitcher, also held the run record for the season with 20 and nine of those were home runs, which broke last years record of six. Erin Clancy also tied the run record for the season with 20. Sabrina McCullough broke her own batting average with a new average of .389; she also holds the records for hits with 37, for doubles with eight, and for runs-batted-in with 28. Stephanie Ewing also set a record, which tied the current record with two triples for the season; she also recorded the most stolen bases for the season with 11.

Head Coach Angie Dean commented, “I’m looking forward to this season. We have a lot of experience as well as new talent on the team so it is going to be tough making a lineup each game, but it will be great watching a great group of seniors play together with a young group of talented players along side learning from them. We want to play as one team and with that we should be able to play well at Conference and Regionals, then Nationals. We just need to stay focused and play hard each and every game.”

The Softball Patriot Ladies will open their season on February 11 th in Pulaski, TN where they will face Martin Methodist. The Mid-South Conference Tournament will be held April 26 th-29 th. This will be an exciting season as the team looks forward to rising to the challenge that each and every game has to offer as well as playing hard to make it all the way to nationals.

2005 Season Preview