The Emory softball team begins its season this weekend with home games against Lynchburg College (Va.) and Rhodes College (Tenn.). The team’s season ended last year with a loss to Trine University (Ind.) in the NCAA Division III Super Regional Championship. The team ranked 16th in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s (NFCA) D-III preseason poll.
This year’s team features a much younger squad than in the past, with new faces replacing five impact seniors from last year. Perhaps the biggest loss is superstar Megan Light, who batted .463 with 19 home runs and 65 RBIs last season.
The team also lost seniors Lauren Gorodetsky and Claire Bailey, who combined last season for 81 runs and 89 hits.
Nonetheless, even with its inexperience, the team’s expectations are through the roof.
“We have a bunch of new faces and we anticipate excitement for those women, and their opportunities are really going to shine,” Head Coach Penny Siqueiros said in a video interview with emoryathletics.com. “We have a lot of holes that need to be filled and are just anxious and excited to be piecing that puzzle together.”
Sophomore Brittany File will anchor the team’s pitching staff this season. In addition to leading the nation in strikeouts per seven innings last year, she posted a 2.66 ERA and a 10-5 win-loss record to go along with six complete games.
File is optimistic that the team can outdo its performance last year.
“This season is going to be all about holding each other accountable both in games and in practice,” File said. “If we do that, I think we’ll have a good chance at making it back to Super Regionals, and then to the World Series. It’s been too long!”
File’s work ethic and growth over the past year has impressed Siqueiros.
“The level of maturity Brittany has expressed coming from last year to this year ... has been sensational,” Siqueiros said in the video interview. “She pitched against the University of Georgia this past fall with all their starters ... and she did well. We are really excited about the possibilities of what she’s going to do this year.”
Coach Siqueiros is also looking to junior Sydney Carpenter and freshman Audrey Weller to contribute quality innings on the mound. An injury forced Carpenter to sit out last season, but as a freshman she posted a 7-0 win-loss record and a 1.64 ERA. Weller was a senior at Moorestown High School in New Jersey last year, where she was named First Team All-South Jersey.
Perhaps the biggest question mark for this team is the outfield. With the team losing two outfielders from last year, Gorodetsky and Ally Kersthold, new players will have to fill those shoes. Junior Alyssa Pollard, who batted .342 last season, will be returning to center field, and sophomore Amy Wray, who played second base and pitched last year, will be moving to right field. Sophomore Taylor Forte and freshmen Janelle Turnquest and Raygan Greer will split time in right field.
Junior infielder Hannah Sendel will lead the team’s offense. Last year she batted .404, swatted 14 home runs and knocked in 59 runs, earning Second Team NFCA All-American honors in the process.
Senior Micah Scharff, senior Brianna Berceau, junior Melody Carter, Forte and freshman Ashley Powers will also see time in the infield, though they will rotate between different positions.
The team will play Lynchburg and Rhodes twice each this weekend, with the first game at 10 a.m. tomorrow against Rhodes at Cooper Field.
- By Michael Scheck, Staff Writer
