From Staff Reports
Times-News
FROSTBURG — Last year was a record-setting one in many ways for the Frostburg State softball team, and it may be more of the same this year for coach Wes Landrum’s Bobcats, who begin the season against Salisbury Friday at the Beach Blast at Virginia Beach, Va.
Last year, Frostburg State went 26-18 and reached the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference championship game for the second year in a row. The Bobcats earned a berth in the ECAC Tournament, the second in the program’s history.
Junior Brooke Tapman returns at right field after having the best offensive season in school history as a sophomore, setting school records for home runs (15), runs (42), hits (58), RBIs (43), extra-base hits (26), total bases (118) and slugging percentage (.901).
Other returning players are:
• Junior second baseman Victoria Krichbaum, who was second on last year’s team in batting average (.290);
• Senior Lindsay Freitag, who who set the single-season record for triples (5) and was second in runs scored (30);
• Sophomore third baseman Jenna Delaney, former standout at Mountain Ridge, who was third in batting (267) and RBIs (19) and led the team in assists (74);
• Senior first baseman and 3-year starter Samantha Quirin, who was second in fielding percentage (.982) and is the school’s all-time leader in putouts (954);
• Sophomore Beth Whitehead, who has been impressive with her switch to being a slap hitter and is likely to see a lot of playing opportunities;
• Sophomore Megan Magee returns to lead the pitching staff. Second-team All-AMCC as a freshman, she was 50th among NCAA Division III hurlers last year in victories (16), 64th in earned run average (1.60) and 122nd in strikeouts (5.9 per seven innings). She led the AMCC and the Bobcats in strikeouts (141) and innings pitched (166 2-3).
Among the newcomers are junior pitcher Megan Henne, a transfer who was two-time All-Region XX while at CCBC-Dundalk; freshman catcher Megan Butzner, who helped lead Chesapeake to Maryland state titles in 2007 and 2008; and junior transfer outfielder Jacki Lynch, who was second in the Maryland JUCO with 19 stolen bases at CCBC-Dundalk.
Jennifer Nescio joins the Bobcat coaching staff this year. A 4-year player at Plattsburgh State, in 2007 she helped the Cardinals win the Northeast Regional Championship and finish fourth in the Division III College World Series.
Frostburg, which plays four games in Virginia Beach and eight in Florida, hopes to make its home debut March 25 against Hood.
