Tuesday, February 15, 2005

GREYHOUNDS SELECTED TO REPEAST AS CHAMPIONS IN COMMONWEALTH CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL

ANNVILLE, PA --- The Moravian College softball team, the 2004 NCAA Division III National Runner-Up, has been picked to win its sixth straight Commonwealth Conference title in a preseason poll of the conference’s coaches released Tuesday.

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 Messiah College, Juniata College, Susquehanna University, Widener University, Albright College and Elizabethtown College.

Moravian was tied for second in the 2005 National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division III Preseason Top 25 Poll released last week. The Greyhounds, under the direction of 12th year head coach John Byrne (333-117), returns ten players and seven starters from last year’s 40-6 squad that made its seventh consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament and first to the World Series. The Greyhounds are also the five-time defending Commonwealth Conference Champions and have added six talented newcomers to the roster.

Leading the returnees will be a pair of NFCA Division III First Team All-Americans in junior pitcher Meagan Hennessy (Freehold, NJ/Freehold HS) and senior shortstop Heather Bortz (Allentown, PA/Parkland HS).

Hennessy, the 2004 Commonwealth Conference Pitcher of the Year, posted a 22-4 record, a school record for victories, with a school record 11 shutouts and three saves. Hennessy, who started the season 15-0, had a 1.18 ERA in 184 innings of work, and she allowed just 125 hits and 47 walks while striking out a school record 168 batters. Hennessy became just the second pitcher in school history with 300 strikeouts in a career. Hennessy was also named to the All-Tournament Team at both the World Series and the regional.

Bortz, the 2004 Commonwealth Conference Player of the Year, lead the Greyhounds at the plate with a .448 batting average. Bortz had a single season school record 74 hits on the season and tied the school record for career hits with 191. Bortz, who had an NCAA all-division record 44-game hitting streak from April 15, 2003 to April 17, 2004, also contributed 46 runs scored, 19 RBIs, 18 stolen bases, 11 walks, eight doubles and three triples.

The Greyhounds have eight other players back including junior infielder Richelle McWilliams (Riegelsville, PA/Easton HS), who hit .292 with 28 hits, 23 RBIs, nine runs, nine doubles and four home runs while being named to the Commonwealth All-Conference Second Team and regional All-Tournament squad.

Sophomore catcher Danielle Carrione (Bloomfield, NJ/Mt. St. Dominic HS) hit .276 in her debut season with 29 hits, 13 RBIs, 13 runs, nine walks, two doubles and a triple. Sophomore infielder Lauren Homa (Chalfont, PA/Central Bucks West HS) added 27 hits, 22 runs, 12 walks, ten RBIs, four doubles and two homers. Homa was on the All-Tournament Team at both the World Series and the regional.

Senior outfielder Krissy Cianfichi (Warrington, PA/Central Bucks East HS), who was named to the regional All-Tournament Team, had 19 hits with ten runs, six walks, five RBIs, two double and a triple while senior infielder Leah Holmes (Clarks Green, PA/Abington Heights HS) added 19 hits, 18 runs, nine walks, seven RBIs and four doubles.

Senior outfielder Stephanie Eddinger (Allentown, PA/Parkland HS) had three hits; three runs and an RBI while sophomores outfielder LeeAnna Roberts (Meshoppen, PA/Elk Lake HS) and infielder Rebecca DeJulio (Vineland, NJ/Sacred Heart HS) each had two hits on the year. Roberts added six runs and an RBI while DeJulio has two RBIs, two runs and a double.

Coach Byrne has once again recruited another talented class to Moravian that includes transfer sophomore Justina Black (Orefield, PA/Parkland HS). Also joining the Greyhounds will be freshmen Megan Ritchey (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown HS), Katie Uhas (Pottstown, PA/Owen J. Roberts HS), Keri Traficante (Chalfont, PA/Central Bucks West HS) and Beth Paly (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall HS).

The Greyhounds, who begin their 2005 season at the Atlantic versus East Challenge in Virginia Beach, Virginia on Friday and Saturday, March 4th and 5th, will play at least three teams ranked in the NFCA Preseason Poll this season. Moravian’s first home doubleheader is slated for Saturday, March 19th versus Haverford College at 1:00 p.m.

2005 Commonwealth Conference Softball Preseason Poll