Tuesday, March 2, 2004

GREYHOUNDS SELECTED TO REPEAST AS CHAMPIONS IN COMMONWEALTH CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL

ANNVILLE, PA --- The Moravian College softball team was a unanimous selection to win its fifth straight Commonwealth Conference title in a preseason poll of the conference’s coaches.

The Greyhounds received 64 points and all eight first place votes in the poll. Messiah College was selected second, and the Falcons were followed by Juniata College, Elizabethtown College, Widener University, Susquehanna University, Albright College and Lebanon Valley College.

Moravian College was ranked 10th in the 2003 USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division III Preseason Top 25 Poll released in February. The Greyhounds, under the direction of 11th year head coach John Byrne (293-111), return 13 players and all 11 starters from last year’s 32-10 squad that made its sixth consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament, finishing as the runner-up in the region. The Greyhounds are also the four-time defending Commonwealth Conference Champions.

Junior shortstop Heather Bortz (Allentown, PA/Parkland HS) had one of the best seasons in school history last spring, hitting .496 with a school record 67 hits. Bortz became Moravian’s first NFCA All-American, making the Second Team, and she was the Commonwealth Conference Co-Player of the Year as well as an All-Conference First Team selection. Bortz also contributed 29 runs, 18 RBIs, 11 walks, ten stolen bases, six doubles, three triples and a home run. Joining Bortz on the left side of the infield is senior third baseman Janelle Brey (Allentown, PA/Dieruff HS) who has rewritten the Moravian record books in three years. Brey has set the records for home runs in a game, season and career, doubles in a game, season and career, RBIs in a game, season and career and total bases in a game, season and career. Last spring, Brey, who was on the All-Conference First Team, hit .412 with 54 hits, 40 runs, 44 RBIs, 19 walks, 15 doubles, five triples and seven home runs.

On the mound, the Greyhounds return two of the top pitchers in the conference. Sophomore Meagan Hennessy (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Township HS) had one of the best debut seasons in Moravian history while being named an All-Conference First Team honoree, the Commonwealth Co-Pitcher of the Year and the Commonwealth Freshman of the Year. Hennessy had a 16-6 record with a 1.39 ERA, a school record 164 strikeouts and just 37 walks allowed in 151 innings of action. Also back in the circle is senior Donna Weiner (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park HS), who was an All-Conference Second Team selection after posting a 16-4 record with a 1.62 ERA, 62 strikeouts and just 26 walks allowed in 138 innings.

The Greyhounds, who begin their 2004 season at the Atlantic versus East Challenge in Virginia Beach, Virginia on Friday and Saturday, March 5th and 6th, will play at least three teams ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Preseason Poll this season. Moravian’s first home doubleheader is slated for Sunday, March 28th versus Franklin & Marshall College at 1:00 p.m.

2004 Commonwealth Conference Softball Preseason Poll