The Wittenberg softball team may have lost one of the deepest, most experienced senior classes in program history following the 2010 season, but Head Coach Becky Hall isn't interested in merely rebuilding. She has high hopes that the 2011 edition of the Tigers will pick up where the seniors left off in last year's North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament championship game and take the program to the next level.

Jessi Allen '11

The team's offense figures to be a strength, with four of the top five hitters in terms of batting average back in the line-up in 2011. Leading the way are a pair of first-team All-NCAC honorees in 2010, senior Jessi Allen (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) and junior Tori Amicon (Galloway, Ohio/Hilliard Darby), who batted .370 and .340, respectively, and combined for 30 runs batted in a year ago. Allen, who has led the Tigers in stolen bases each of the last two years, has split her time between second base and the outfield defensively during her collegiate career, while Amicon primarily played first base in 2010.

Also back is junior infielder Fallon White (Fairborn, Ohio/Northmont), who batted a team-best .394 in limited action a year ago, and junior Jessica Snyder (Northfield, Ill./New Trier), who enjoyed a breakout year in 2010, batting .350, scoring 22 runs and driving in 17 while starting 39 of the team's 40 games at shortstop. Like Allen and Amicon, White and Snyder are versatile defensive players who figure to see action at multiple spots in 2011.

Also of note, two of the team's top defensive players return in 2011 in junior catcher Brooklyn Cox (Dayton, Ohio/Vandalia Butler) and junior second baseman Katelyn Davis (Bethesda, Ohio/Union Local). Cox struggled with the bat in 2010, batting .219 with eight runs batted in, although she did lead the team by a wide margin in sacrifice hits with 19. Behind the plate, she committed just three errors while starting 39 games in 2010, while Davis also committed just three errors in her 31 starting assignments.

Jessica Snyder '12

It is the pitcher's circle that provides the greatest uncertainty in 2011, as the Tigers graduated their top three pitchers, including second-team All-NCAC honoree Brooke Boswell, who accounted for 29 of the team's 40 starting assignments and 178 of its 263 innings pitched a year ago. Junior Anna Kvartunas (Springfield, Va./Paul VI Catholic) is the lone returning letterwinner after she pitched seven innings last year.

The good news is that a strong recruiting class includes multiple players who figure prominently in the team's 2011 plans, including a trio of pitchers in Shelby Ross (Springfield, Ohio/Kenton Ridge), Caitlin Gowins (Coshocton, Ohio/Riverview) and Rachel Ross (Westerville, Ohio/South). Among the other top newcomers are Laura Rose (Riverside, Ohio/Stebbins) and Samantha Spencer (Enon, Ohio/Greenon), who both will see action in the outfield, and Kaitlyn Harrison (Springfield, Ohio/Kenton Ridge), who provides depth at both first base and behind the plate.

Written By: Ryan Maurer
Photo By: Erin Pence