Posted: Feb 04, 2011
Chapman Softball Season Preview
For the first time in school history, the Chapman University softball team is coming off back-to-back losing seasons. The Panthers have been plagued by inconsistent pitching and defense the past two seasons and it is the main reason for last year's 16-20 record. In 16 seasons as head coach at Chapman, Janet Lloyd has amassed 487 victories, 13 winning seasons and 12 postseason appearances, so a losing season is not something she expects the team go through again this year.
"We talk a lot about how we have been there (a losing season) twice," said Lloyd. "We don't like it, it's not something that we wanna get use to."
In each of Chapman's winning seasons under Lloyd, strong pitching and defense has been the focal point that has led to success. Lloyd believes that improving those two facets of the game will play a large role in how successful this year's team is.
"The last couple of years we haven't had a good defense and we made too many mistakes," said Lloyd. "We can't do that with this pitching staff."
With a young, inexperienced pitching staff this year, Lloyd knows that the team can't commit 58 errors like they did in 2010 because those errors accounted for 46 unearned runs which was about a third of the opponents total runs scored.
Of the five pitchers that Lloyd plans to use in the majority of innings, sophomore Rhianna Stepler-Camp has the most experience and it's not a lot; just 3 2/3 innings over two games. Stepler-Camp and sophomore Katie Terry are expected to get the bulk of the starts, especially until freshman Nikole Weber returns to the rotation a few weeks into the season. While Weber is expected to be a key contributor when she returns, Lloyd believes that the 1-2 combination of Terry and Stepler-Camp will keep opponents off balance because of their contrasting pitching styles.
"You throw those two next to each other and you are going to screw up a hitter," said Lloyd. "So that is our philosophy right now, is use them both and use the other ones (pitchers) to maybe get us out of jam."
The two other pitchers that Lloyd expects to use on occasion are a bit of surprise. At the start of the season, Lloyd didn't know she would have either senior Kristen Oechsel or freshman Raquel Rinauro on the pitching staff, yet both should see some innings this season. Oechsel is playing softball at Chapman for the first time, last playing as a senior in high school.
While the pitching staff has been completely overhauled, there are quite a few familiar faces returning to the lineup, although playing time according to Lloyd will be a game-by-game decision based on performance with the exception of a few positions.
"Right now the players that didn't start last year are playing and practicing very well," said Lloyd. "I have kind of just opened the door for everybody."
Chapman does return four of its top seven offensive players in sophomore OF Kerry Peterson (.344, 10 doubles, 20 RBI), junior OF Jayme Jarvis (.282, 4 HR, 14 RBI), junior C Michelle Pitts (.282, 20 RBI) and junior IF Courtney James (.258, 14 RBI). Jarvis was named to the 2010 NFCA All-Region first team and is the Panthers' top-returning power hitter. Also expected to make an offensive contribution is junior C.C. Daly (.432, 6 RBI) who played well in limited opportunities last season.
With Pitts at catcher and James at third base, the rest of the infield positions remain up for grabs. Senior IF Laura Alexander and sophomore IF Brittany Furlong are expected to compete for time at shortstop while sophomore IF Kyla Javier is making the transition from shortstop to second base.
In the outfield, junior OF Andrena Calix is expected to get the bulk of the starts in centerfield. In addition, Peterson is returning and Lloyd has been impressed by the play in practice of junior OF Jessica Mitchell.
If Chapman is going to end its two-year streak of losing seasons, they are going to have to do it against what is quite possibly the toughest schedule in the nation.
"This is the toughest schedule I can remember having in a long, long time," said Lloyd.
Of the teams in the NFCA top-25, five are on Chapman's schedule this year including defending national champion East Texas Baptist University and national runner-up Linfield College. The Panthers also play Louisiana College, Texas-Tyler, and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
With the return of some key offensive players and a stronger team work ethic, Lloyd believes that this team can turn things around provided the defense and pitching staff find some consistency.
"This is probably the hardest working group I have had in a long time," said Lloyd. "I am hoping that gets us a step better than we have been in the last couple of years."
by Chris Watts
Sports Information Assistant