Softball 2000 Preview:

Corsairs will combine returning vets with speed and depth from newcomers for 2000 season

(Dartmouth, MA) � UMass Dartmouth softball coach Marilyn Ritz's softball team is a year older and a year wiser as they head into the 2000 season. Coming off a 6-24 campaign (2-12 LEC) a year ago with a very young team, the Corsairs have four returning starters, plus more depth and speed than a year ago, and more importantly, a season�s worth of experience.

"We are still a young team but our sophomores and juniors have gained some valuable experience playing in the highly competitive Little East Conference," said Ritz, who is entering her 17th season as the Corsairs' head coach. "The newcomers also bring us some valuable experience. Many of them have come from successful high school programs and have had a taste of tournament experience or have played for very competitive summer softball teams."

The key to softball success starts on the mound and the Corsairs will build their team around one of the LEC's workhorse starting pitchers. Junior right-hander Erika Roderiques (Freetown, MA) started all 30 games for the Corsairs a year ago, leading the conference in starts and tying for most appearances. In her conference leading 178.1 innings (29 complete games), she had a 3.53 earned run average, walking 77 and striking out 77, fourth best in the LEC.

"We are going to be counting on Erika to give us lots of innings this season," said Ritz who will again be joined by long-time assistant coach Joan Allison. "Erika is a very strong pitcher with good control and I think she�s going to give us the kind of pitching we need to stay close in the tough games."

Backing up Roderiques this season with be a pair of newcomers to UMass Dartmouth, including first-year players Mindy Perruzzi (Tiverton, RI), a transfer student from Community College of Rhode Island, and Grace Cimo (Medford, MA) a first year player with the Corsairs.

UMass Dartmouth will returner another starter behind the plate where sophomore Heather Blaisdell (Seekonk, MA) enters her second season as the Corsairs' catcher. Backing up Blaisdell will be two first year players, Lauren Johnson (West Boylston, MA) and Brittany Mitchell (Berlin, MA), who can also play the outfield.

In the infield, UMass Dartmouth will return the double-play combination of sophomore Susan Herriott (Westminster, MA) at second base along with junior shortstop Jen McGuinness (E. Taunton, MA). Sophomore Carrie-Anne Cowdrey (Belchertown, MA) will move from the outfield, where she was a starter last year, over to first base, while first-year player Amy Morgado (Stoughton, MA) or sophomore Deanna White (Essex, MA), who saw some time last year, should handle the third base spot.

With the depth UMass Dartmouth has on its roster, however, Ritz may also have the ability to move some of her infielders around. First-year player Jinneane Sperrazza (Mansfield, MA) or Morgado could also play shortstop, while McGuinness could move to second base along with first-year players Allison Collins (Northbridge, MA) or Katie Cavalieri (Franklin, MA). Perruzzi can also play first when she�s not pitching, as can Roderiques.

"Most of our experience is going to be in the infield and that�s going to be very important for us," Ritz said. "We have a lot of flexibility with our roster and I'll be moving people around to take advantage of situations which come up as the season goes along."

UMass Dartmouth's outfield will have newcomers in all three starting positions this season. Ritz is working with a young group of four first-year players and one sophomore playing her first year at the collegiate level. Among the players in the mix for a starting spot in the outfield are Collins, Kelly Doherty (Tewksbury, MA), Bridget Donahue (Clinton, MA), Courtney Goguen (Billerica, MA) and Cavalieri, who is playing her first year of softball for the Corsairs.

"There is no doubt we will be young in the outfield, but this is a fast group of players who I have confidence can make the plays they need to make," Ritz said.

Shoring up the Corsairs� defense will help UMass Dartmouth, but if the Corsairs want to move up in the LEC standings, they will need to improve on last year�s team batting average of .223, ranked 7th of the LEC�s 8 teams.

"I'm hoping that we can get more offensive production from our returning players and that we can take advantage of our team speed on the bases," Ritz said. "If we can get some people on base and can move them around, we need to have people deliver the key hit so we can score some runs."

McGuinness is UMass Dartmouth's top returning hitter with a .272 average and was the team leader in runs (13), hits (25) and total bases (31) last season. UMass Dartmouth should also be able to get more production out of some of the other returning veterans including Roderiques (.210), who led the team in runs batted in with nine, plus Herriott (.213, 6 RBI) and Blaisdell (.210, 13 hits). Ritz also said newcomers Johnson and Mitchell could provide a boost on offense as well.

UMass Dartmouth will open its season in Fort Myers, Florida, where the Corsairs will compete in the annual Gene Cusick Classic before returning to New England on March 21 for a game at Framingham State. After another road game at Stonehill College on March 23, the Corsairs will play their home opener on March 26 against Fitchburg State College in a non-conference doubleheader.

Little East Conference play will get underway on April 8 when the Corsairs face the Panthers of Plymouth State in a doubleheader at 1:00 p.m.