HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College softball team established numerous records and highlights during the 2014 season. Among them were a school-record 29 victories and the program's first two wins at an NCAA Regional. Despite losing four key players from the 2014 Centennial Conference Championship squad, Haverford looks to have the experience for another postseason run in 2015.
The graduation losses include all-conference selections Jen DiCandilo and Elizabeth Newman in the field, while the Fords will also have to fill the innings void left from Claire Fitzgerald and Brittany Stevenson in the circle. The 2015 season also marks the dawn of a new era in the coaching ranks as Erin Brooks takes over head coaching responsibilities from Jen Ward '04, who resigned at the end of left season.
Coach Brooks should have plenty of experience to lean on in her first year at the helm of the Fords. Haverford returns seven starters in the field from the 2014 championship squad. Each of these seven players has started at least 70 games in their Haverford careers. The Fords will also return both starting pitchers from a season ago in second-team All-CC picks Sara Tauriello and Emily Winesett. As expected with the amount of experience returning, the Fords are a veteran laden team with seven seniors and four juniors among the 15 players.
Highlighting the offensive returners is 2014 first-team All-Centennial Conference selection Jill Schnall. Schnall, now a senior, hit a program-record nine home runs last season. She also led the team in slugging percentage (.679), on-base percentage (.469), and RBI (29). She was second on the team in batting average (.376) and runs scored (29). Schnall is already Haverford's career leader in home runs with 14. She is one of three players on this year's roster that has started over 100 games in their careers.
Dayle Comerford and Lauren Touey also enter their senior campaigns with over 100 career starts. Comerford was named the 2014 Centennial Conference Tournament MVP. She has started all 115 games of her Haverford career and is ranked in the top five in program history in doubles (30), home runs (8), and RBI (88). Her .983 fielding percentage is the third best in program history. Touey enters the season as a career .298 hitter. She batted a career-best .339 in 2013 and has scored 20 or more runs in each of the past two seasons.
Seniors Stephanie Wolfson, Sarah Brody, Julie Garlick, and Brianna Lowey have all been starters at points throughout their Haverford careers as well. Wolfson, a starter during each of her first three seasons, enters her senior campaign with a .283 career batting average. Brody, a two-year starter, brings a career .272 average into the season, while Garlick has improved her batting average in each successive year and has already broken the school record for sacrifice hits. Lowey will enter her second season as captain. She will be joined by Touey and Schnall in this leadership role.
In the circle, juniors Tauriello and Winesett return after combining for two-thirds of the innings pitched last year. Add in sophomore Kendall Chambers and the Fords return almost 80 percent of last year's innings pitched. Tauriello went 12-2 with a 0.89 ERA in 18 games. She started 15 games and pitched three shutouts. Winesett was 11-3 with a 1.55 ERA in 21 games. She made 14 starts and pitched four complete games. Tauriello and Winesett's wins and ERA from last season both rank first and second for a single season in program history. Chambers appeared in 16 games with an ERA of 2.94 during her 33.1 innings of work.
Members of the junior class along with Tauriello and Winesett are Miwa Wenzel and Kristin Tatum. Tatum's .537 career slugging percentage ranks third in program history, while she is also placed fourth in career home runs (10). Behind the plate, her .992 fielding percentage is tops in program history. Wenzel appeared in 19 games last season, stealing a team-high five bases a season ago. Joining the Fords for their rookie campaigns in 2015 will be freshmen Alex Craig, Jessica Koshinski and Emily Gorman.
Haverford, the pick among conference coaches to repeat as Centennial Conference Champions in 2015, gets its season underway on Sunday, March 8 in Florida. The Fords are scheduled to play 10 games in the Sunshine State. When the team returns following Spring Break, 16 of the team's 28 games will be played on the Class of '95 Field. Centennial Conference play opens with a trip to 2013 Centennial Conference Champion Washington College on March 24.