THE TOWERLIGHT - Baltimore Student Media

SOFTBALL
ignore the individual abilities of
these three juniors.
Fratzke, a five-foot-six-inch midfielder,
was the CAA rookie of the
year in 2006.
The accolade proved to be a
recursor for future success as the
hifty sophomore garnered second
eam All-America honors last year
fter leading the Tigers with 48
oals and 12 assists.
“Hillary is probably the quickest
ut of all of us,” McNamara said.
She can take the ball through
hree or four people. She is differnt
because she can weave through
veryone.”
Eliminating Fratzke will likely
e the game plan for keeping the
igers off the scoreboard and out
f the win column, so she should
xpect to get plenty of attention
rom the CAA’s finest defenders.
McNamara will be relied upon to
ake opponents pay for focusing
olely on Fratzke, and the junior
ttack has shown than she is more
han capable of filling the net.
McNamara was second on the
team last year with 32 goals, four
of them coming in game-winning
fashion.
“[Offensive balance] is a good
thing to have this year because
if teams want to shut down our
offense, they won’t be able to
because we have more than just
one or two offensive weapons,”
Fratzke said.
Woodfield is known as a hardworking
defensive midfielder with a
bit of a mean streak, but has shown
that she can chip in offensively
when the need presents itself. She
scored 19 goals and seven assists in
the 2007 campaign.
“It’s great that we have a handful
of players that can contribute,”
head coach Missy Doherty said.
“It’s something that I personally
wanted to develop when I came
here, an attack where the opponent
doesn’t know where the attack is
coming from. Anybody in there
can score and that’s one of our
strengths this year.”
Even Witzel, now a volunteer
assistant coach with the Tigers,
2008 Spring Sports Preview
Mix-up in lineup provides new look for Towson
Tigers brimming
with talent, but
not depth or
experience
Paul Williams
Staff Writer
When Towson travels to South
Carolina for the College of Charleston
Cougar Classic on Friday, the lineup
will look different from last season.
Despite returning 12 letter winners
from 2007, the Tigers will open
this season with seven players that
are either first time starters or are
playing a different position from
last year.
“I think we moved players in
positions that can help them be
successful and that match up
with their skills,” head coach Lisa
Costello said. “I think there is going
to be a little bit of a curve but I
think they’re going to be okay with
it.”
Towson not only graduated five
players from last season, including
three starters, but three other players
from last year are no longer on
the roster for various reasons. The
lack of experience is not a concern
for Costello.
“This group of kids is very athletic
and very versatile,” Costello said.
“We’re not very deep, but we’ve got
kids that can play a lot of different
positions. We have a pitching staff
that, if we need them to, can hit for
themselves, which we haven’t had
in the past.”
Senior first baseman Stephanie
Fudurich is one of only two returning
starters that will play in her
natural position. Fudurich finished
second on the team with 25 RBI
last season
Senior catcher Aimee Rosa is
the other returning starter and will
split time with freshman Meaghan
Clark. Rosa led the team with eight
home runs and 29 RBI last season.
She ranks first on Towson’s all-time
home run list with 19.
Rosa will spend time at catcher
as well as designated player,
Costello said.
While Fudurich and Rosa will
return to their old positions, the
remainder of the infield will be
shuffled around in 2008.
A pair of right-handers, sophomore
Shannon Johnston and senior
Claire Reitmann-Grout, will share
the majority of the pitching duties.
Johnston led the Tigers with 13
wins last season, including 12
complete games and two shutouts.
Johnston also struck out 78 batters.
Reitmann-Grout missed all of 2007
with a back injury. Junior Kelly
Ebner and freshman Britney Croner
will complete the pitching staff.
Mindy Bean, a sophomore transfer
from Oregon State, and freshman
Marybeth Herrick, will compete for
the starting job at second base.
Last season at OSU, Bean appeared
in 37 games and stole seven bases.
Herrick was a four-year starter and
a Baltimore Sun all-Metro selection
at Archbishop Spalding in Anne
Arundel County. Herrick will also
provide depth in the outfield.
Freshman Sammi DiPompo will
succeed four-year starter Megan
Zwoyer at shortstop this season.
DiPompo was a two-time all-New
Jersey selection and a four-time all
conference selection at St. Joseph
High School.
Sophomore Stef Streets, an all-
CAA performer at designated player
last season, will take over at third
base. Streets batted .241, hit four
home runs, and added 19 RBI last
season.
The Towson outfield will see the
most turnover with three returning
concedes that having multiple
offensive threats working collectively
will enable the Tigers to
wreak havoc on opposing goalkeepers.
“It’s hard for one person to do a
lot of the work,” Witzel said. “They
all know they have great talent.
Everyone can touch the ball and
put it into the back of the net. So
if [opponents] want to mark up on
Hillary or someone else, other players
will be able to take advantage
of that.”
Fratzke, McNamara and
Woodfield have learned to mesh
their skills in their time together
at Towson. And now that the three
friends have resolved to share the
spotlight, the sky is the limit for
the Tigers.
“Every team wants to be a championship
team.” McNamara said. “I
think this year and next year that
we not only have the potential to
win the CAA, but to go even further.
Everyone’s working together
and there’s a whole different feel
with the team this year, and I think
that’s going to take us far.”
veterans moving to new positions.
Sophomore Kim Lempa will make
the switch from right field to center
field. Lempa led Towson with 13
stolen bases last season. Senior
Nina Navarro, an all-CAA performer
in 2006 and three-year starter in
left field, will move to right field
this season. Junior Emily Gould,
who started at third base last season,
will replace Navarro in left.
Senior Erica Dressel, sophomore
Jocelyn Hall, and freshman Rachel
Miller will provide depth in the
outfield.
“This year, we have all said that
we are going to take one game at
a time and focus on the game at
hand,” Rosa said. “We need to pick
each other up when necessary. We
all have been working toward all
of this at practice and are ready to
finally get on the field and show
something.”
File photo/Kristofer Marsh/The Towerlight
After revamping their lineup,, the Tigers will take on the CAA with more talent than experience. Only
two Towson players return to the field starting in the same position that she started at in 2007.
THREE: Juniors lead team in CAA conference
From page 15
File photo/Patrick Smith/The Towerlight
Junior attacker Meggie McNamara scored 32 goals, including six
in one game against New Hampshire, during the 2007 campaign.
The Towerlight February 18, 2008
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