Softball Set to Start 2019 Season

The Alfred State softball team heads to the Gene Cusic Classic in Ft. Myers, FL this weekend to start the 2019 season. The Pioneers roster features six returners and nine newcomers for third year head coach Suzie DeNillo.

Jordan Leonard (Lancaster) and Jamie Parente (Mount Sinai) return for their senior season. Leonard has made 58 appearances on the mound and has thrown 221 total innings while collecting 16 hits and in limited at bats. Parente returns and will be counted on her defense at shortstop and at the top of the order in her second year wearing blue & gold after transferring into Alfred State.

Morgan Franklin (Wellsville), Ashley Peterson (Valley Central), Betsy Butlak (Lake Shore), and Ashley Gomez (Bronx/Energy & Technology) also return. Franklin hit .299 (20 for 67) last year, Peterson collected 13 hits and drove in five during her first, Butlak has appeared in 44 games during her two years, and Gomez will push for time in the outfield.

A trio of newcomers, Brittany Fisher (Indianapolis, IN), Arianna Traugott (Elmira), and Marissa Varela (Egg Harbor Twp, NJ) will be asked to contribute right away. Fisher and Traugott will join Leonard on the mound along with Mikayla Kravetsky (Orson, PA). Varela will be a key piece in the lineup and in the outfield.

The blue & gold are scheduled to play ten games at the Gene Cusic Classic and then take a trip to the Philadelphia, PA area for a pair of doubleheaders. The team then is slated for 11 doubleheaders in New York vs. AMCC, NEAC, Empire 8, and ACAA competition. The season concludes with the Pioneers hosting the ACAA Tournament the first weekend of May.