2007 Season Preview
Coming off of a season in which team records fell left and right, Garnet softball is setting its sights on a bigger prize: a Centennial Conference championship.
2006 saw Swarthmore break the school record for victories (23) and win their first ever Centennial playoff game. Everybody contributed to the 13-win improvement over 2005--returning players made great strides and all four freshmen played key roles. Seven offensive starters and the entire pitching staff return in 2007, and six newcomers will challenge for playing time and bolster the squad's depth.
 |
| Christine Sendelsky '09 became the first Swarthmore freshman to make First Team All-Centennial in 2006. |
Leading the way on offense will be 2006 All-Centennial first-team infielder Christine Sendelsky '09 (Edison, NJ \ John P. Stevens). Sendelsky, the first Garnet freshman to make All-CC first team, finished fifth in the Centennial in batting average (.395) and first in extra-base hits (19). Her four home runs equaled the team record help by Michelle Walsh '98 and Mary Mintel '05. While hitting .500 through 15 games, Sendelsky provided plenty of early-season excitement, signaling to the campus community and alumnae that a new era of Garnet softball was underway.
The rest of the 2006 Garnet infield will also be back for the coming season. Five-hole hitter and shortstop Katherine Gold '08 (Cherry Hill, NJ \ Cherry Hill East) enjoyed a very consistent 2006 and finished with a .385 average and team-high totals of 34 RBI and 85 defensive assists. Holding down the hot corner all season long was Melissa LaVan '07 (Deerfield, IL \ Deerfield), a strong defender who put up a .351 on-base percentage while striking out just six times in 117 plate appearances. First base has been the exclusive property of senior Kelly Siano (Fort Collins, CO \ Poudre) since she arrived on campus three seasons ago. Siano has steadily improved at the plate, raising her batting average 37 points in 2005 and 74 points last year all the way to .333. The senior socked two home runs in 2006 and will return for her second season as a team captain in 2007.
Plenty of offensive muscle also returns to the Swarthmore outfield. Centerfielder Lauren Walker (Fallston, MD \ The Hotchkiss School) and leftfielder Kristin Caspar (Briarcliff Manor, NY \ Briarcliff), now sophomores, were both in the starting lineup from game one last season and combined to hit .293, score 58 runs, and steal 13 bases in 2006. It was Caspar's game-winning single over Gettysburg on April 15th that gave the squad its school-record 17th win of the season. Outfielder/designated player Dahlia Perez '08 (Fairfield, CT \ Hopkins School) came on strong late and finished with a .345 average and .433 OBP in 26 appearances, including three hits off 2006 Centennial Pitcher of the Year Mallory Greene of Ursinus.
All three hurlers return from the pitching staff that cut its earned run average (ERA) by nearly two runs in 2006. While Sendelsky was wowing fans with her offensive heroics, classmate Alexandra Zelaski (Middleburg Heights, OH \ Midpark) was doing the same from the mound. When she was named both the Centennial and the ECAC South Region Pitcher of the Week on April 3, Zelaski was fourth in the Centennial in ERA (1.76) and fifth in strikeouts (59) on her way to a 7-2 record. Zelaski finished the year at 11-6 with a 2.11 ERA and 3.12 strikeout per walk (K/BB) ratio and has clearly emerged as one of the top pitchers in the Centennial.
 |
| Senior Marianne Klingaman heads a Garnet staff that dropped its ERA by two runs in 2006. |
After a slow start in 2006, Marianne Klingaman '07 (Columbia, MD \ Centennial) got hot in time to dominate the Centennial Conference, posting a 4-2 record and 1.63 ERA in conference play. Swarthmore's top hurler in 2004 and 2005, Klingaman will team with Zelaski to give to give the 2007 squad one of the conference's finest 1-2 punches on the mound; the senior also hit .278 with a home run in limited action at the plate, giving fourth-year head coach Renee Clarke another option in the late innings. Also toeing the rubber in 2007 will be Emily Walz '08 (Dayton, OH \ Oakwood), who came up with a number of big wins in '06 and finished with a solid 3.33 ERA and 56 strikeouts in just 69.1 innings pitched (IP).
Swarthmore graduated a program legend in 2006, catcher Christina Procacci, who was one of the Centennial's finest table-setters (.460 OBP) and defense players (threw out a league-high 10 base runners). Poised to replace her is first-year Michelle Perch (Kinnelon, NJ \ Kinnelon).
Two other first-years will also join the squad. Monica Cody (Torrance, Calif. \ Marymount) will look to contribute as a utility player, while Kathryn Riley (Dagsboro, N.J. \ Indian River) has experience both on the mound and in the outfield. The team also welcomes back a pair of seniors, Ashley Brandt (Lock Haven, PA \ Central Mountain) and Julie Monaghan (Wynnewood, PA \ Penn Charter), both of whom saw significant action as first-years back in 2004, as well as sophomore Stephanie Sampedro (Hackensack, NJ \ Hackensack).
Swarthmore's season opener is scheduled for March 1 at 3:00 vs. DeSales, with another home doubleheader following on March 6 vs. Alvernia before the team's annual spring trip to Savannah, GA, where the team will play six games in preparation for the Centennial season that starts on April 5 at Ursinus.
The 2007 season opens with unprecedented promise for the Swarthmore softballers. It promises to be an exciting year on Clothier Fields!