Monday, February 27, 2006

GREYHOUNDS SELECTED TO REPEAST AS CHAMPIONS IN
COMMONWEALTH CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL

ANNVILLE, PA --- The Moravian College softball team has been picked to win its seventh straight Commonwealth Conference title in a preseason poll of the conference’s coaches released Monday.

The Greyhounds received 49 points and seven first place votes in the poll. Lebanon Valley College was selected second and received the other first-place vote. The remainder of the poll included Albright College, Messiah College, Juniata College, Susquehanna University, Widener University and Elizabethtown College.

Moravian was ranked 17th in the 2006 National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division III Preseason Top 25 Poll released last week. The Greyhounds, under the direction of 13th year head coach John Byrne (370-125 return eight starters and ten letterwinners from last year’s 34-8, which made the program’s eighth consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament. The Greyhounds are also the six-time defending Commonwealth Conference Champions and have added seven talented newcomers to the roster.

Leading the way for the Greyhounds in the circle will be two-time All-American pitcher senior Meagan Hennessy (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Township HS). Hennessy was 29-6 in the circle last season, a school record for wins, with a 0.64 ERA, 18 shutouts, three saves, three no-hitters, 277 strikeouts, all season school records, and just 131 hits, 44 walks and 37 runs (23 earned) allowed in a school record 250 innings of action. Hennessy has already broken the Moravian career records for strikeouts with 609; innings pitched with 585.0, shutouts with 37, no-hitters with four and wins with 67.

Sophomore pitcher Megan Ritchey (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown HS) had a 7-1 record last spring with a 1.38 ERA, one shutout, 30 strikeouts and 29 hits and 27 walks allowed in 45 2/3 innings of action. Ritchey contributed six hits, three runs, a double, a triple and four RBIs while Hennessy had three this, a runs and an RBI in just 13 at-bats.

The Greyhounds do have several positions in the field even though seven starters are back. Junior outfielder Justina Black (Orefield, PA/Parkland HS) had 41 hits, 21 runs, 18 RBIs, six doubles, 12 walks, a home run and a .376 average in her debut season with Moravian.
Sophomore second baseman/catcher Beth Paly (Whitehall, PA/ Whitehall HS), who was named the Commonwealth Conference Rookie of the Year, contributed 47 hits, 25 RBIs, 30 runs, 11 doubles and a .359 average while junior first baseman Lauren Homa (Chalfont, PA/Central Bucks West HS) had 37 hits, 28 runs, 25 RBIs, five doubles, four triples and two home runs last spring.

Senior designated player Richelle McWilliams (Riegelsville, PA/Easton HS) had a .310 average to go with 36 hits, 17 runs, 37 RBIs, seven doubles, a triple and ten home runs which tied the single season record. Junior catcher Danielle Carrione (Bloomfield, NJ/Mt. St. Dominic HS) had 32 hits, 13 RBIs, 25 runs, eight sacrifices bunts, two sacrifice flies, a double, two triples and a home run.

Sophomore third baseman Kelly Santry (Hatboro, PA/Upper Moreland HS) contributed 27 hits, 13 runs, three doubles, three home runs, eight walks, ten sacrifice bunts and 12 RBIs. Junior first baseman Rebecca DeJulio (Vineland, NJ/ Sacred Heart HS) added nine hits, a double and four RBIs while sophomore outfielder Keri Traficante (Chalfont, PA/Central Bucks West HS) had five hits, eight runs and an RBI.

Coach Byrne has once again recruited another talented class to Moravian that includes pitcher/outfielders Katie Agnew (Doylestown, PA/Lansdale Catholic HS), Maria DeBonis (Nazareth, PA/Notre Dame HS) and Kristie Pellicani (Sparta, NJ/Sparta HS), shortstop Jordy Oplinger (Allentown, PA/Parkland HS), outfielder Erica Klepeisz (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth HS), catcher/first baseman Sheri Bieniek (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley Regional HS) and catcher/outfielder Deanna Mangieri (Pleasantville, NY/Bryam Hills HS).

The Greyhounds, who begin their 2006 season at the Atlantic versus East Challenge in Virginia Beach, Virginia on Friday and Saturday, March 3rd and 4th, will play at least three teams ranked in the NFCA Preseason Poll this season. Moravian’s first home doubleheader is slated for Tuesday, March 28th versus Wilkes University at 2:30 p.m.

2006 Commonwealth Conference Softball Preseason Poll