Thursday, April 30, 2009

GREYHOUND SOFTBALL SQUAD PREPARES FOR ITS 15TH STRAIGHT POSTSEASON APPEARANCE &
TO HOST 2009 LANDMARK CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT

BETHLEHEM, PA --- The Moravian College softball team will be heading to the postseason for the 15th consecutive season as the Greyhounds have the top seed for the 2009 Landmark Conference Tournament being hosted by Moravian in Bethlehem this weekend.

The tournament begins on Friday, May 1st with Moravian playing fourth seeded The Catholic University of America at 11:00 a.m.  Second seeded Susquehanna University will battle third seed Juniata College at 1:00 p.m. and the winners of the first two games will play at 3:00 p.m. Friday, with the winner of that game earning a berth in the championship game at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.  The losers of Friday’s first two games will open Saturday’s action at 9:00 a.m. For more information on the tournament, click here.

The Greyhounds, who are the defending Landmark Conference Champions, under the direction of 16-year head coach John Byrne, who as a career mark of 506-156, have posted a 31-9 overall record this spring, the 16th consecutive season that Moravian has won at least 23 games, and an 11-1 mark in Landmark Conference action.  The Greyhounds, which have won over 30 games ten times under Byrne including the last eight years, are in the conference tournament for the tenth straight year and the 14th time in 15 years.  Moravian has also been in the NCAA Tournament ten of the last 11 years including a regional championship and berth in the 2007 NCAA Division III World Series and a national runner-up finish at the 2004 Division III World Series.

Moravian, which was ranked fourth in the East Region in the final NCAA Division III Regional Rankings released Wednesday and also received votes in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III Top 25 this week, are hitting .332 with 352 hits including 95 extra-base hits.  Moravian has out-scored its opponents, 219-67, and the Greyhounds have a .971 fielding percentage this season.  However, the Greyhounds are just 4-6 in one-run games this season with three of those losses in extra innings.  Moravian has played a total of five extra-inning games in 2009.

Senior pitcher/designated player Maria DeBonis (Nazareth, PA/Notre Dame HS) has a .333 batting average with 38 hits including eight doubles, a triple and two home runs to go with 23 RBIs, 24 runs scored and 14 walks.  In the circle, DeBonis is 13-7 with a save, a 1.04 ERA, four shutouts, 37 walks and 152 strikeouts in 135 innings of action.

Senior first baseman Sheri Bieniek (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley HS) has a .345 average with 39 hits, a team leading 11 doubles, a team high five homers, 17 runs and a team high 36 RBIs while sophomore outfielder Amanda Paulus (Easton, PA/Easton HS), this week’s Landmark Conference Player of the Week, has a team leading .429 average with a team high 45 hits, nine doubles, four triples, four home runs, 27 runs and 16 RBIs.   Sophomore shortstop Stephanie Falzarano (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield HS) leads Moravian with 34 runs to go with 40 hits, 14 RBIs, a .315 average, eight doubles, a triple and 14 walks and four stolen bases while senior catcher Deanna Mangieri (Pleasantville, NY/Byram Hills HS) has 27 hits, eight doubles, 20 RBIs and 11 runs.

Freshman second baseman/pitcher Jenna Carmon (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central HS) has 32 hits, 23 runs, 13 walks, eight doubles, three stolen bases, 13 RBIs and a .344 average at the plate, and Carmon, has a 12-1 mark in the circle including ten straight wins to go with a 0.83 ERA, four walks and 31 strikeouts in 84 2/3 innings. 

Senior outfielder Erica Klepeisz (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth HS) has a .380 average, 41 hits, 23 runs, eight walks, four doubles, three triples, two home runs and 18 RBIs while sophomore third baseman Maura Agnew (Doylestown, PA/Lansdale Catholic HS) has 29 hits, four doubles, two triples, 13 runs and 14 RBIs this season.  Freshman outfielder Olivia Evanko (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth HS) has contributed 33 hits, 25 runs, two doubles, three triples, a team high 14 sacrifice hits, a team leading six stolen bases and 15 RBIs this season while junior catcher Kelly Maressa (Allentown, PA/William Allen HS) has eight hits with three doubles, four runs and three RBIs. 

Sophomore first baseman Jennifer Schmitt (Mendham, NJ/Mendham HS) has added four hits, four runs, three RBIs, a double and a home run while freshman catcher Katie Lynn (Carbondale, PA/Carbondale HS) has four hits, a double, a run and an RBI.  Freshmen infielder Priscilla Camacho (Jersey City, NJ/County Prep HS) and outfielder Tessa Shifflet (Williamsport, PA/Williamsport HS) each have two hits with Camacho scoring two runs and Shifflet crossing the plate once scored while sophomore outfielder Megan Boyle (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield HS) has five hits, three runs and three RBIs.  Junior outfielder Katie Flood (Branchburg, NJ.Somerville HS) has scored four runs with one hit and an RBI while senior second baseman Katie Agnew (Doylestown, PA/Lansdale Catholic HS) has a hit, a run and an RBI for the Greyhounds. 

Sophomore pitcher Elizabeth Python (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman HS) has posted a 6-1 record with a save, a 1.416 ERA, 13 walks and 24 strikeouts in 29 2/3 innings of action, and Python, who was also seen action at second base, has a hit and a run  in four at-bats.  Python also combined on a perfect game with freshman pitcher Jenna Gonzalez (Annandale, NJ/North Hunterdon HS), who has four strikeouts, a walk and a 1.75 ERA in four innings of action