CLERMONT, Fla. – The Post University softball team under the direction of fifth-year head coach
Tracey Garofalo will begin the 2012 season on Sunday, March 4, at the NTC Spring Games this week. The Eagles will play 10 games and begin the season against West Virginia Wesleyan at 9 a.m., Sunday morning.
PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS:
The Post University softball team was selected to finish seventh in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Coaches' Poll. The Eagles garnered 117 points, while Dominican was named the preseason favorite. The Chargers are the two-time defending conference champions. A 14-team league, the top eight squads will qualify for the 2012 CACC Championship, which will be hosted by Georgian Court from April 26-28, in Lakewood, N.J.
ALL-CACC RETURNEES:
The Eagles return a pair of all-conference selections from a season ago.
Amy Mantha (Agawam, Mass.) was a First Team All-CACC choice in 2011, and
Stephanie DeMartino (Staten Island, N.Y.) was a second team selection. Mantha led the team a season ago with a .385 average, and added 10 doubles, a team-high two triples and four home runs. She also totaled 28 RBIs and 30 runs scored. In her rookie season, DeMartino led Post in hits (58), doubles (18) and RBIs (35), and was second in average (.382), slugging percentage (.579) and on-base percentage (.430).
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS:
WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN
The Bobcats opened the season a perfect 3-0 at the Johnson C. Smith Tournament in Charlotte, W.Va., on Feb. 25-26. The team outscored its opponents 28-1 in three victories, including a season-opening 17-0 defeat of Virginia-Lynchburg. West Virginia Wesleyan will have played seven games when it takes on Post in the Eagles' season-opener on March 4.
COLLEGE OF SAINT ROSE
Saint Rose will begin its 2012 season at the NTC Spring Games. The Golden Knights will open the season on March 3, in a doubleheader against Dominican. St. Rose finished the 2011 campaign with an overall record of 9-28-1. The Golden Knights and Eagles split a doubleheader in Waterbury a season ago. Post lost game one 5-3 and won game two 8-2. The teams also met in Clermont, where Post took a 9-8 win.
CEDARVILLE UNIVERSITY (OHIO)
The Yellow Jackets completed the 2011 season with a 32-21 record. Cedarville competed in the American Mideast Conference Tournament, where it went 0-2; however, the Yellow Jackets were 9-4 against conference foes during the year. Cedarville opens the 2012 season at the NTC Spring Games.
URBANA UNIVERSITY (OHIO)
The Blue Knights are coming off a 15-25-1 record during the 2011 season, and will begin the 2012 season at the NTC Spring Games. A member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC), Urbana University and the conference were recently accepted as the 24
th active NCAA Division II conference and will begin competition as a member of that conference on Sept. 1, 2013.
#24 UNIVERSITY OF TAMPA
The 24
th-ranked Spartans are 13-3 overall as of Feb. 29, and will take on Lynn in a three-game series on March 2-3. Through 16 games, Katlyn Raatz leads Tampa with a .368 batting average and a .457 on-base percentage. She is one of four Spartans who have at least a .346 average this season. Last season, Tampa won its first game in the NCAA South Regional, a 3-2 decision over Arkansas-Monticello.
BEMIDJI STATE UNIVERSITY
After a 0-2 start, the Beavers won their last two games against Minnesota Crookston to get back to .500 prior to their spring break trip to Florida. .In its pair of wins, Bemidji State got its first shutout of the season in a 3-0 victory in game one, while the Beavers scored a season-high eight runs in game two. Bemidji State finished the 2011 season with a record of 5-27 and 4-20 in conference games.
ASSUMPTION COLLEGE
The 2011 Northeast-10 regular season champions, the Greyhounds were picked fifth in the NE-10 Preseason Coaches' Poll in February. A team that went 27-18 overall and 21-9 in conference play, Assumption returns five all-conference selections, including three First Team All-NE-10 performers. The trio includes Lauren Medeiros, Tanya Robidoux and Jennifer Lowrey. The Greyhounds begin the 2012 season at the NTC Spring Games.
SAINT JOSEPH'S COLLEGE (IND.)
The Pumas were selected seventh in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) East Division in the preseason coaches' poll. Saint Joseph's returns six everyday players from a team that 19-24 during the 2011 season. The Pumas will open the 2012 campaign at the NTC Spring Games, and will take on Post in the 10
th and final game of their trip.
SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE UNIVERSITY
The Penmen were tabbed eighth in the Northeast-10 Preseason Coaches' Poll on Feb. 7. Southern New Hampshire returns 13 letterwinners from the 2011 team, one which finished 17-13 in conference play and reached the first round of the conference tournament. The team's leader in hits (47) and batting average (.362), Kelsea Cheney, returns for her senior season, while sophomore pitcher Dolores Mattice returns in the circle. Mattice posted an 8-7 record as a rookie.
