GOLDEN EAGLE NINE BEGIN 2005 SEASON IN FLORIDA
The 2005 Clarion University softball team will get its season under way Saturday when its plays Carson-Newman and Rollins at Rollins. The Golden Eagles will then participate in the Rebel Games in Orlando.
“We are excited to get the season started,” third-year head coach Natalie Martin said. “It will be nice to finally be able to get outside and play some games.”
Clarion will use a mixture of youth and experience as it prepares to tackle the rugged PSAC-West this season. The Golden Eagles have three seniors, five juniors, four sophomores and four freshmen on a squad that went 12-18 overall and 8-12 in the PSAC-West last season. Clarion entered the final two weekends of the season battling for a PSAC Playoff berth before coming up just short.
“We have a nice group of returning players from last season, and a good group of freshmen coming in,” third-year head coach Natalie Martin said. “We are very experienced at some positions, but young at others – especially pitching where our top thrower is a freshman.”
Clarion returns eight players from last season that started at least 10 games including five who started at least 25. At least one starter returns at every position but one of the outfield spots and on the mound.
It is on the mound where the Golden Eagles have the most question marks. Gone from last season are Clarion’s top two pitchers – April Shannon (9-12, 1.80 ERA, 170 strikeouts, 1st team PSAC-West, 1st team All-Region) and Brittany Anderson (3-5, 3.47 ERA).
The Golden Eagles will turn to freshman Dana Hartings to carry a lot of the load on the mound, while senior Christian Allendorfer will also see time.
“Dana is going to have to step in and produce right away,” Martin said. “She is working hard to do that, and she is a very capable pitcher regardless of her class standing.
“She is a tall pitcher who we are working on developing consistency with. We are trying to give her a variety of pitches to go to.”
Allendorfer saw limited action on the mound last season and went 0-1 with a 5.07 ERA.
“She doesn’t have mound experience, but she has conference experience,” Martin said. “She will know what to expect, and we have confidence in her ability. We believe she will do a good job for us this season.”
While Clarion doesn’t have much experience on the mound, the Golden Eagles have an experienced catcher in junior Heather Alterio behind the plate.
“I believe Heather is the best defensive catcher in the conference,” Martin said. “She is a very good physical and mental catcher. She calls a good game, and she directs the game well.”
Alterio started 26 of Clarion’s 30 games last season and hit .211 with four doubles and two runs scored. She committed just three errors while throwing out 11 of the 23 base runners attempting to steal on her.
Backing up Alterio will be Ashley Walker and Katie Forsyth, who both will be in the line-up at different positions when not catching.
“This year, maybe even more so than in the past, a strong defensive presence is going to be important because of the inexperience at pitcher,” Martin said. “All three of our catchers provide that.”
Moving into the infield, the first base job is still a toss up between Jacquelyn Browner (.281, 1 double, 1 home run, 6 RBI’s, 4th in the nation in sacrifices per game) and Allendorfer (.237, 1 double, 1 RBI) when she is not pitching. That’s nothing new, as they have been battling each other for playing time for three seasons now.
“Defensively they are two of the same,” Martin said. “On offense, Jackie provides more power, while Allendorfer is more of a contact hitter.”
At second base, Bethany Burns is the returning starter and Karla Kaczmarek is battling for playing time.
Burns hit .229 last year with 10 runs scored, three doubles and 3 RBI’s.
Kaczmarek hit .067 in 19 games with five starts with two runs scored.
“Offensive will be the big key to who gets most of the playing time,” Martin said. “Both do an outstanding job on defense.”
Senior Kristin Klinger, a four-year starter, returns at shortstop. Last season she hit .165 with three doubles, 1 triple and a team-high 10 RBI’s. Two years ago she batted .342 with 15 runs scored and 10 RBI’s, while her freshman season saw her hit .235.
“We need more offense from Kristin,” Martin said. “We also need her to return to what she did two years ago defensively.”
Martin believes freshman Heather Fields will also see time at shortstop.
Walker, who hit .282 with seven double and three RBI’s and is the leading returning hitter for Clarion, returns at third base where Fields and Brower could also see playing time.
Clarion also has six players battling for time in the outfield including returning starters Forsyth (.241, 2 doubles, 1 RBI) and Lauren Fortnoff (.157).
“Lauren is the leader in the outfield and will probably play centerfield,” Martin said.
Additional outfielders include Lindsay Dugovich, Chandra Kalika , Leah Naiditch, Allison Schaefer and Lauren Stauber.
“All else being equal, offense will be the deciding factor in who starts in the outfield,” Martin said. “Both Dugovich and Naiditch have improved significantly from last season, and Kalika has improve defensively from last year.”
Martin said the broad goals for Clarion this season include being competitive in every game and doing the things the players are capable of doing in every game.
“If we do those things, wins will take care of themselves,” Martin said.
One of the things Martin would like to see improve this season is Clarion’s offense. Last year the Golden Eagles hit just .215 as a team.
“We have been emphasizing the offense all year,” Martin said. “If some of our players live up to their potential, that number should change quite a bit.”
GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES – After the trip to Florida, Clarion will return north to play West Liberty March 23 … The Golden Eagles home schedule as well as PSAC-West slate begins March 25 when Slippery Rock comes to Clarion … Martin is 28-38-1 in her two seasons at Clarion including 18-22 in the PSAC-West.