Sports News: Spring 2003

Monday, May 5, 2003

SIX GREYHOUNDS NAMED MORAVIAN STUDENT-ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

BETHLEHEM, PA --- Sophomore Heather Bortz (Allentown, PA/Parkland HS) of the softball team, sophomore Kirsten Rotzell (Bangor, PA/Bangor HS) and Christina Scherwin (Copenhagen, Denmark) from the women’s outdoor track & field squad, freshman Mike Sofka (Westfield, NJ/Westfield HS) of the baseball team and junior John Lesoine (East Stroudsburg, PA/East Stroudsburg HS) and sophomore Jed Warsager (Andover, NJ/Newton HS) from the men’s outdoor track & field squad have been named the Moravian College Student-Athletes of the Week for their performances last week.

Bortz, a shortstop who was named the Commonwealth Conference Player of the Week, helped the Greyhounds to a 5-0 record last week, the team’s third straight Commonwealth Conference Tournament title, the squad’s fourth straight Commonwealth Conference Championship and the program’s sixth consecutive NCAA Division III Tournament appearance. Bortz hit .667 last week with 12 hits in 18 at-bats, and she was 7-10 at the Commonwealth Conference Tournament. Bortz added three runs scored, three RBIs, a triple, a walk, a sacrifice and a stolen base in 20 plate appearances. She was five-for-eight in Moravian’s regular season finale sweep of Albright College, and Bortz added a five-for-six performance in the Greyhounds’ 4-3, 11-inning victory over Juniata College to open the Commonwealth Tournament. Bortz had 15 chances in the field last week and committed just one error with seven putouts and seven assists. Bortz is hitting .492 (58 of 118) for the season. Moravian, which is 29-8 overall, has been seeded third in the NCAA Division III Regional at Ramapo College. The Greyhounds will play sixth seeded the United States Merchant Marine Academy at 12:00 p.m. on Friday, May 9th in the second game of the tournament.

Rotzell and Scherwin led Moravian to its 11th consecutive Middle Atlantic Conference Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Championship. Rotzell won the triple jump with a leap of 11.60 meters (38 feet, ¾ inches), which qualified her provisionally for the NCAA Division III National Championships, and Rotzell won the long jump with a distance of 5.50 meters (18 feet, ½ inch), which is also an NCAA provisional qualifying distance. Rotzell also placed fourth in the 100-meter dash in 12.76 seconds. Scherwin captured three individual MAC titles, winning the shot put with an NCAA automatic qualifying distance of 14.31 meters (46 feet, 11 ½ inches), the discus with an NCAA provisional qualifying distance of 42.56 meters (142 feet, 1 ¼ inches) and the javelin with an NCAA automatic qualifying distance of 49.24 meters (161 feet, six inches). Moravian is scheduled to compete at the Jim Tuppeny Twilight Meet at Villanova University on Monday, May 12th.

Sofka, a third baseman, hit .500 for the Greyhounds last week as Moravian made its first appearance in the postseason since the 1992 season. Sofka went one-for-three in Moravian’s 12-6 loss at Albright College in the opening game of the 2003 Commonwealth Conference Tournament. His one hit was a solo home run, Sofka’s second homer of the season. Sofka was also two-for-three with two RBIs in the Greyhound’s, 4-3, 10-inning loss to Elizabethtown College, which ended the Greyhounds’ season. He added two stolen bases in the game and committed just one error in eight chances in the field last week. Sofka ended his debut season at Moravian with a .369 batting average while the Greyhounds posted a 14-15 record.

Lesoine and Warsager helped the Moravian men’s outdoor track & field team to a fifth place finish at the 2003 MAC Championships. Lesoine captured the MAC title in the hammer throw with a toss of 48.96 meters (160 feet, seven inches), and he was fifth in the shot put with a toss of 12.42 meters (40 feet, nine inches). Warsager won the 100-meter dash in a time of 11.21 seconds to earn the Greyhounds ten points at the meet.