Feb. 19, 2008

2008 WSU Softball Prospectus in PDF Format

2008 WARRIOR OUTLOOK

Gary Bryce enters his 27th year at the helm of the Warrior softball program with high expectations, as 14 letterwinners return from his 2007 squad which captured the GLIAC regular-season title (15-5), was the co-GLIAC overall champion, and advanced to the third day of the NCAA Great Lakes Regional tournament.

Of the 14 returnees, there are six in both the senior and junior classes along with sophomores Nicole Abel (Kitchener, Ont.) and Stephanie LeClair (Kitchener, Ont.).

In addition, Bryce and assistant coach Pat Kent have added infielder Jaci Banton (Richmond Hill, Ont.) from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and catcher Rachel Spaccarotelli (Ray, Mich.), a freshman from Romeo High School.

Leading the list of returnees is senior All-American Molly Yetman (Cambridge, Ont.), who compiled a 24-5 mark with a school-record 300 strikeouts (the previous mark was 205 set by Amy Thiede in 2000) and a 0.65 earned-run average in over 195 innings. The GLIAC Player of the Year and Great Lakes Region Pitcher of the Year, Yetman was also named to the Daktronics All-America Second Team as well as the NFCA All-America Third Team.

"You win with pitching," stated Bryce. "We hope Molly is able to have another good season. Abel and Lauren Warkentien (East China, Mich.) both pitched some good games last year but we would like both to improve their consistency. We have three good throwers and they know they are all going to play."

Abel had a 9-5 record and a streak where she won six straight decisions. She tossed a one-hit shutout of Ferris State in GLIAC regular-season title clinching game. Warkentien, who pitched 19.2 innings a year ago while also seeing time in the outfield and as a designated player, won three games and had a staff-best 2.33 ERA in 66 innings as a freshman in 2006.

"Molly is not going to sneak up on anybody this year," added Bryce. "Nicole threw well in the fall against Michigan State and beat Ferris State 4-0."

The other end of the WSU battery will see senior Sarah Berry (Acton, Ont.) and Spaccarotelli handling most of the duties. Berry was voted to the NFCA All-Great Lakes Region First Team in 2007 as an outfielder because current student assistant coach Sarah Kish was handling the catching duties. Berry batted .361 a year ago with 37 RBI and a .399 on-base percentage.

Senior Lindsey Perry (Taylor, Mich.), who was also selected to the NFCA All-Great Lakes Region First Team in 2007, has started 109 games at first base. She hit .349 with 10 home runs and a .614 slugging percentage last season.

"Both Sarah and Lindsey have done a great job for us," commented Bryce. "They both performed very well last year."

Junior Lisa Seymour (Davison, Mich.), an All-GLIAC Honorable Mention selection a year ago, moves from shortstop to second base, a position she played in 2006.

Banton is slated to start at shortstop. She started 42 games in 2007 at IUP, all but one at shortstop.

At the hot corner will be senior Robyn Haig (Waterloo, Ont.) and junior Amanda Van't Wout (Guelph, Ont.). Haig has a .302 career batting average, while Van't Wout made 50 starts in 2007 at three different positions (35 RF, 11 2B, 4 DP).

Bryce has many options when it comes to the outfield. Seniors Meredith Boxberger (Plymouth, Mich.) and Laura Guzman (Royal Oak, Mich.) are joined by juniors Sarah Teller (Chesterfield Twp., Mich.), Laura Maiorana (Clinton Twp., Mich.) and Van't Wout along with LeClair.

"They all bring something to the table," said Bryce. "LeClair has great quickness and covers a lot of ground."

Boxberger was an All-GLIAC Honorable Mention team selection in 2007 after batting .318 and starting 57 games. Guzman started 11 times total at all three outfield positions a year ago. Teller also started at all three positions and played errorless defense.

Maiorana and junior Katie Golub (Lansing, Mich.) both saw limited action last season.

"I've always felt our goal was to win the league," said Bryce. "When you play in a league, you should try and win the league. I would definitely like to win the NCAAs. If you are going to make it to the College World Series you need to play good competition. That is why we are playing (school such as) Florida Southern, SIU-Edwardsville, Lock Haven and Shippensburg. If you can't compete with these schools, then you shouldn't go to nationals. The GLIAC is very tough overall. There are a lot of teams that could win it this year."

If everything falls into place this season, the Warriors could qualify for the NCAA tournament for the third straight year and the fifth time in the last seven seasons. Once qualifying is complete, anything can happen in the NCAA regionals.