HAVERFORD, Pa. – Head coach Jen Ward '04 has built a Fords softball program into a perennial contender for the Centennial Conference title and the 2010 season should hold true to those same expectations.

Haverford will be pushing for its fifth straight 20-plus win season under the direction of Ward who always seems to find a way to reload from year to year.

Three First-Team All-Centennial players graduated following last season's march into the conference tournament but the other four all-league players are back and experience abounds up and down the bench.

Second-team all-conference pitcher Lisa Karmel will likely be the anchor of the Fords' pitching staff. She was part of a one-two combination last season that helped Haverford to a league-leading .208 team ERA. Karmel was second in the Centennial in earned runs allowed and fifth in ERA.

Cassandra Searls and Maggie Cronin also saw time in the pitching circle last year and might again in 2010 depending on the progress of any of the newcomers to the squad including freshman Lauren Gill.

Most of the time Searls, a three-time second-team all-league performer, will patrol center field for Ward. The senior will see a new player in the left corner due to the graduation of all-conference first-teamer Dana Irshay, but in right the Fords brings back at least a pair of experienced outfielders in Alison Crawford and Beth Davis. Like with the pitching staff, newcomers, like Jolie Krooks, Gabrielle Sapienza and Ashley Vanderbeck, may shuffle the corner positions around as the season progresses.

The strength up the middle for the Haverford defense continues inward from Searls all the way to the backstop where the catcher's equipment will be donned by a one of two sophomores that solidified the position last year when both were just freshmen.

Erin Delaney and Laura Iwanyk had stellar first seasons behind the plate and added punch to the offensive attack. Delaney finished with the third-highest batting average on the team last year and was the top Ford in slugging percentage. Iwanyk, a switch-hitter, will continue to make things tough on opposing pitchers in 2010.

In just her first season Laina Gagliardi earned second-team league honors at second base for the Fords. The slick-fielding infielder teams with Honorable Mention All-Conference shortstop Candice Smith to provide a rock solid pairing through the middle of the infield.

Smith finished second behind only Irshay in batting for the Fords last year posting a .358 average. Haverford's leadoff hitter, Smith registered an amazing .545 BA when leading off an inning which helped the junior lead the Fords in runs scored.

Marina Zambrotta played the hot-corner for the Fords, getting the starting nod at third base 33 of 34 games. Ward will be putting a new player at the other infield corner and Davis may play into that mix depending on the outfield shuffle.

The Fords face a brutal schedule in 2010, starting in Florida over their spring trip. Among the opponents in the Sunshine State will be Wesleyan (Conn.) College (NESCAC tournament finalist), Dominican (Ill.) University (NAC tournament finalist), Lesley (Mass.) University (inaugural NECC tournament champions), Wartburg (Iowa) College (IIAC tournament qualifier) and Rensselaer Polytechnic Instistute (N.Y.) who finished the 2009 season with an ECAC Upstate Tournament championship.

Following a trio of non-conference match-ups after returning from Florida, the Fords begin conference action with a home contest against Gettysburg. Haverford and the Bullets were picked in a tie for third place in the 2010 preseason Centennial coaches poll that was headed by Ursinus then Muhlenberg (2009 conference tournament champions).

Losing Irshay and fellow first-team all-conference teammates Becky Garibotto (pitcher) and Natalie Richman (first base) creates a few holes in Ward's line-up. But in years past the sixth-year head coach has solved those types of problems and plugged in new pieces that keep the team winning and challenging for Centennial supremacy, an expectation that she and Fords believe will happen once again in 2010.