2012 Softball Season Preview

The Mason Softball team will look for added consistency in the 2012 season.  With 11 freshman hoping to contribute and only three seniors graduated from the 2011, Head Coach Joe Verbanic is very excited about the potential for this year's team.  "We have the potential this year to put together one of the best lineups, top to bottom, that we have ever had in my seven years here," said Verbanic.  "We also will have more competition for the girls to get in the lineup because I really expect the freshmen to push the upperclassmen at several positions.  This year we have people who can get on base, people who can move them around and people who can drive them in.  Overall, I am really excited about the potential of this team and just like with every team, our pitching will determine how well we can do this year."

Below is a brief preview of each position:

Pitcher

Senior Miranda Cranford, freshman Casey Herring and sophomore Stephanie Maher are expected to anchor the team in the circle this year.  Cranford, a native of Escondido, California, brings a ton of pitching experience to Mason's staff.  Herring is a promising young pitcher who has a ton of talent, while Maher is coming off an impressive freshman campaign in which she tallied 7 wins and a 2.92 ERA.  Pushing these three will be junior right hander Amanda Buffington, as well as freshmen Jamie Rice and Tiffany Harvell.  "If anything happens to our expected top three, it will be big to have somebody else step up and earn a spot in the rotation," reflected Verbanic.

Infield

The Patriots will be anchored in the infield by junior catcher Emily Lafferty and senior shortstop Rachael Davies.  "Those are our two leaders out there," said Verbanic.  "Lafferty does a great job behind the plate with our pitchers and is one of the vocal leaders for our defense.  Davies is a senior and our best defensive infielder."  There will be a three way competition for the backup catcher position.  Freshmen Kaitlyn Griffith, Angela Maioran and Amanda Bender are competing to earn playing time and all will be needed at times throughout the season. 

Senior Tori Dudley, junior Megan Blank, sophomore Kaila Conlon and freshmen Mary O'Connor, Brooke Blankenship, and Tori Rodriguez will all compete in the infield for second base, third base and backup shortstop time behind Davies.  Lauren McColgan, a sophomore from Falls Church, Virginia will be redshirting this year due to injury.  "We are looking to see who can produce not only defensively at these positions, but also at the plate," remarked Verbanic.  "The beauty of our team this year is that we have several players who can produce.  We are really excited about the options we have this year and all different lineups we can put together this season." 

At first base, junior Reagan Doiron and senior Katie Rynex will battle for the starting job.  "First base has been an inexperienced position for us in the past, but not anymore," said Verbanic.  "I would feel very comfortable with either Doiron or Rynex out there starting for us.  We are going to let them battle it out for the first part of the season, but there is no doubt that we will lean on both of them heavily this year."

Outfield

Senior Alyssa See is expected to lead the outfield in center this season.  While infielders such as Dudley and Blank have playing experience in the outfield, Mason also boasts some younger talent that will get a chance to show they can compete.  Junior Samantha Barney and gifted freshman Cori Prince are two of the top contenders for an outfield position.  However, they will be heavily pushed by sophomore Tiffany Webb, freshman Kelsea Zukauckas and sophomore Brooke Tickle.  "The fact that some of our infielders have the ability to also move to the outfield, gives our team a lot of versatility and really allows us to get the hottest bats in the lineup at all times.  It's a great problem to have when you are struggling to figure out which player might need to sit on a given day.  We are starting to get to that point here at Mason."

Mason will open the 2012 season with two tournaments in South Carolina from February 10^th-12^th and February 17^th-19^th.  The Patriots will then come home to host tournaments on the first, second and third weekends in March, leading up to the conference opener on the road at UNCW on March 24^th-25^th.

For more information on Patriots Softball, make sure to "Like" the George Mason Softball fan page on Facebook, follow the team on twitter @gmusoftball and read the team blog at masonsoftball.wordpress.com.