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.
Softball
Experienced Frostburg State opens season today at Va. Beach
- Softball
-
-
Keyser splits pair, stays alive in state tournament
Keyser got off on the wrong foot in the very first inning of the very first West Virginia State Softball Tournament game in school history, allowing four unearned runs in the first inning to fall behind 5-1, before dropping the first game of the Class AA tournament, 9-4, to top-seeded Ritchie County Wednesday morning at Jackson Park.
-
Mountain Ridge captures region title
It might not have been in the fashion Mountain Ridge had become accustomed, but a win over North Carroll in the Maryland Class 1A Region championship game feels the same regardless of the score as the Miners edged the Panthers 5-4 at Kemps Mill Field on Friday to advance to the first state softball tournament in school history.
-
Mountain Ridge teams advance
Opportunity didn’t knock often for either Mountain Ridge or Allegany on Wednesday, but when it did, the Miners were the only ones to answer during a 7-0 win over the Campers that gives them the Maryland 1A West Region, West Section championship.
-
FSU’s Lovend receives another postseason honor
Frostburg State sophomore Caitlin Lovend was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III All-Atlantic Region First Team.
Lovend joins 14 student-athletes on the All-Atlantic Region team, including four players from the Capital Athletic Conference. -
Cranford leads FH over Southern, 12-2
Freshmen Morgan Cranford performed as a seasoned vet Thursday afternoon when she not only homered but helped lead pitcher Alexis Kimmel through a three-hit complete game outing during Fort Hill’s 12-2 win over Southern in the opening round of the Maryland 1A West Region playoffs.
-
Southern comeback stuns No. 5 Keyser in 8
Michaela Bosley’s two-out double in the bottom of the seventh forced an extra inning, and Brooke Spiker’s two-out single in the eighth won it as Southern rallied to defeat Keyser 9-8 in Appalachian Mountain Athletic Conference action on Monday.
-
Robertson throws no-hitter
Junior right-hander Kelsey Robertson threw a no-hitter in Point Park University’s 5-0 victory over Walsh University in the first game of an American Mideast Conference softball doubleheader on Monday.
-
Alco runs to 10-0
ROMNEY, W.Va. — Top-ranked Allegany used five consecutive singles, along with plenty of walks, to score 11 times in the second inning as the Campers remained undefeated by beating Hampshire Monday in three innings.
-
PSC rolls
KEYSER, W.Va. — Jessica Shirley hit two home runs in the same inning and it was just a taste of Potomac State’s offensive output as the Catamounts swept both games of a doubleheader by the same 19-0 score Monday during local JUCO softball action in Keyser.
Potomac State had already taken an 8-0 lead in the first inning of the first game before scoring 11 times in the second to account for all of its runs. The Cats followed a similar path in the second game by scoring 10 times in the first inning and adding nine in the second before holding on for another big win. -
Lough helps Petersburg sweep Ty Valley
PETERSBURG, W.Va. — Whitney Lough threw a three-inning no-hitter in the opener before allowing two hits in three innings in the second to lead Petersburg to a sweep of a doubleheader with Tygarts Valley Monday in Petersburg.
- More Softball Headlines
-
Keyser splits pair, stays alive in state tournament
