2008 Elizabethtown College Softball Preview 

After finishing in second place in the Commonwealth Conference last season, the Elizabethtown College softball team hopes to make the leap to first in 2008. Returning 11 letter winners and a first team All-Commonwealth player, the Blue Jays have high hopes and expectations for the season.

Starting at catcher will be senior captain Abbie Merrifield (York, PA/Dallastown). Merrifield returns this year after starting 30 games last year and tied for second in RBI’s on the team with 16. Backing her up will be junior Lauren Hoover (Reading, PA/Oley Valley). Hoover saw action in 24 games last season and registered seven hits to go along with six RBI’s.

At first base will be sophomore Sarah Church (Aston, PA/Sun Valley). Church played in and started all 33 games last season and had a batting average of .298. She tied for second on the team with 16 RBI’s and also registered 28 hits.

Sophomore Ryan Allard (Londonderry, NH/Londonderry) returns to her usual spot at second base, where as a freshman she started every game. Allard had 18 hits last year to go along with a .214 batting average.

Shortstop will also have a familiar face, as sophomore Paige Tanner (Waynesboro, PA/Waynesboro Area) will start again at that position. Tanner was impressive as a first-year player, batting .311 and leading the team with 27 RBI’s. Showing her speed, she also stole 7 bases out of 8 attempts.

Third base will be occupied this season by sophomore Melissa Martin (Parsippany, NJ/DePaul Catholic), a returnee who started 26 games last season. Martin batted .210 and drove in seven runs as a first-year player.

The starting outfield will welcome two returning players as well as a new addition this spring. Junior Marian Guzik (Greensburg, PA/Hempfield Area) is the most experienced of the outfielders, having started in every game last spring. Guzik batted a gaudy .311 and was second on the team with 32 hits. Also starting in the outfield will be senior Megan Ottey (Plymouth Meeting, PA/Plymouth-Whitemarsh). Ottey played in 17 games last season and registered 13 starts.

The third and final spot will go to a first-year player, Shannon Marsico (Elizabethtown, PA/Elizabethtown). Another player seeing plenty of time in the outfield will be junior Amanda Gordon (Vernon, NJ/Vernon Township). Gordon played in ten games last year, registering four hits and three RBI’s.

In the circle, the Blue Jays will return a first-team All-Commonwealth pitcher in senior Alex Lee (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus). As the only pitcher on the staff for nearly all of last season, Lee finished with a record of 16-15 with an ERA of 1.96 while starting 31 out of the 33 games. First-year student Lisa Malehorn (Halifax, PA/Halifax) will be the Blue Jays' other hurler this season.

The Blue Jays will start their season March 3 against Juniata in Myrtle Beach and begin their Commonwealth slate March 29 in a doubleheader at Messiah.

-by Mike Behounek '11