2009 Softball Media Guide

The 2008 edition of Newberry College finished theseason 19-25, but suffered nine one-run losses that couldhave changed the outcome of the season. As a resultthe scarlet and gray saw a drop off in victories from theprevious season, when the team tied the school record forwins with 34.Head coach Joe Elston points to three factors in order forthe 2009 softball team to regain its 2007 success; StolenBases, Defense and Pitching. In addition to last year’sone-run losses, the team saw a decrease in stolen bases(67), fielding percentage (.937) and shutouts (1), whilethe pitching staff’s ERA increased by a third of a run.Coach Elston accredits last years record to these dips inproduction, when compared to the ‘07 season and priorseasons.In order to increase those numbers, coach Elston hasbrought in four transfers and five freshmen to an experiencedsquad that boasts two preseason All-SouthAtlantic Conference selections; Kat Hammond and SaraPowell. Last year, Hammond and Powell combined for 98hits, 20 doubles, 10 homeruns, 69 RBIs, 33 walks and 30stolen bases. The duo’s continuance of dominant hittingwill be vital for the offense to produce runs.ScheduleNewberry will partake in two non-conference tournamentsthis year by traveling to Florence, S.C. for the annual PatriotsInvitational hosted by Francis Marion. Newberry will hostit’s own tournament, the Mid-South Invitational, from Feb.27-Mar. 1 in Spartanburg, S.C. as fifteen teams will participate.In total, Newberry will play 54 games, which includes 22 athome, 22 on the road, and ten at tournaments. The scarletand gray will play in 14 different cities and 29 different opponents.The 54 total games include 16 games against eightSAC opponents with an even split of eight home and away.With a slew of South Atlantic Conference teams that arecapable of taking home the regular season title, coach Elstonhopes that this season will have the perfect combinationof team cohesiveness, pitching and hitting to bring homeNewberry’s first SAC softball title. Newberry can also gaina title at the 2009 Food Lion SAC Softball Tournament inHickory, N.C. at Lenoir-Rhyne’s campus.PITCHINGIncoming transfer, Amanda Huckestein from ConcordiaUniversity will help to bolster the rotation that saw adecrease of nine shutouts in ’08. Huckestein as well asfellow junior Kristen Hicks, who went 7-7 last year witha 3.95, will be the team’s main pitching arms to carry theload of the season. Two others that will see time on themound are freshmen Mehgan Carter and North Floridatransfer Felicia Taylor.OUTFIELDThe outfield returns plenty of experience as three startersreturn; Aissa Gatewood, Amy Jarrell and Chelsie Hilbourn.All three combined to start in 116 of 125 games played in.Backing up the trio will be Chelsea Chipoletti, StephanieBlazer and Jessica Teague, who played in a combined 67games last year. Newcomers to the outfield will be WhitneyWiles, a transfer from Spartanburg Methodist, andfreshman Courtney Flach. Wiles was an All-Region SecondTeam selection for the Pioneers and Flach was an All-Countyselection playing at Sickles HS in Tampa, Fla.INFIELDOne mainstay and several utility players will make up theinfield this year as Kat Hammond will command secondbase and be surrounded by a platooning cast of starters.First base will most likely be covered by sophomoreRichelle Mirabal, while the opposite corner should behome to Sara Powell. At shortstop, coach Elston willlook to Jessica Reid, who is returning from an injuryplagued 2008 season. Elston’s arsenal of utility playersinlcudes; Mirabal, Powell, Reid, Angela Cataldo andHaley Watson. All of the utility players could see actionat up to four different positions. Newcomers to the teamwill also have a chance to step in and collect playing timeas Newberry added several talented infielders this offseason; Mehgan Carter, Felicia Taylor, Taylor Edmundand Lacy Burdette.CATCHINGCatcher will be extremely deep this year as four playershave the capability of fielding the position. TiffanyPigage is the returning starter with 24 starts and will bechallenged by several incomers for playing time. TransferAmanda Schumacher, from Young Harris College, alongwith freshmen Christine Stokes and Lacy Burdette willlook to garner playing time throughout the year.EASONPREVIEWSNEWBERRYSOFTBALLReturning Players Batting StatisticsPlayer avg gp-gs ab r h 2b 3b hr rbi tb slg% bb hbp so gdp ob% sf sh sb-att po a e fld%Kristen Hicks .500 3-0 6 1 3 0 0 0 3 3 .500 0 0 0 0 .500 0 0 0-0 7 16 1 .958Kat Hammond .415 44-43 135 33 56 14 1 9 47 99 .733 15 2 16 0 .477 1 2 9-10 97 73 11 .939Aissa Gatewood .349 44-44 146 39 51 2 3 0 8 59 .404 14 0 18 0 .404 1 11 21-25 51 8 4 .937Sara Powell .341 44-43 123 24 42 6 1 1 22 53 .431 18 0 10 0 .423 1 7 3-4 41 75 17 .872Chelsea Chipoletti .302 38-20 53 10 16 2 0 0 8 18 .340 0 2 6 1 .327 0 7 2-3 14 1 1 .938Chelsie Hilbourn .297 39-28 91 14 27 4 3 0 20 37 .407 6 4 18 0 .366 0 1 1-1 28 0 2 .933Amy Jarrell .292 44-44 106 26 31 1 0 0 12 32 .302 13 1 9 1 .372 1 6 6-8 47 0 3 .940Richelle Mirabal .272 37-28 81 9 22 1 0 0 15 23 .284 5 3 18 0 .333 1 4 5-5 92 27 9 .930Jessica Teague .259 22-7 27 9 7 0 0 0 1 7 .259 1 0 5 0 .286 0 3 2-2 4 1 0 1.000Tiffany Pigage .246 29-24 57 7 14 0 0 0 6 14 .246 14 4 8 0 .427 0 4 4-4 93 17 3 .973Angela Cataldo .150 15-6 20 1 3 0 0 0 3 3 .150 1 0 8 0 .174 2 3 0-0 11 11 4 .846Jessica Reid .143 4-4 7 1 1 0 1 0 1 3 .429 0 0 4 0 .143 0 0 0-0 4 3 3 .700Haley Watson .059 16-8 17 2 1 0 0 0 1 1 .059 1 0 5 0 .111 0 0 0-0 57 0 2 .966Stephanie Blazer .000 7-4 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 1 0 0 .091 0 0 0-0 13 0 1 .929Returning Pitchers Pitching StatisticsPlayer era w-l app-gs cg sho sv ip h r er bb so 2b 3b hr ab b/avg wp hbp bk sfa shaChelsie Hilbourn 0.00 0-0 1-1 0 0/0 0 0.1 0 5 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 .000 0 1 0 0 0Kristen Hicks 3.95 7-7 22-15 8 2/0 0 90.1 104 71 51 44 57 13 2 8 369 .282 4 12 0 4 132009 Softball Media Guide - Page 5