Pioneers Predicted 9th in AMCC Preseason Poll
The Alfred State softball team is predicted to finish 9th in the 2021 Allegany Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) preseason coaches poll. The Pioneers were 5-5 during the COVID shortened 2020 season.
Mount Aloysius, who won the AMCC title in 2018 and 2019, are predicted to win the conference. Penn State Behrend is predicted 2nd, Pitt-Bradford 3rd, Penn State Altoona 4th, Medaille 5th, Pitt-Greensburg 6th, La Roche 7th, Hilbert 8th, and Alfred State 9th.
The Pioneers roster features seven players with experience wearing the blue & gold. Junior pitcher Brittany Fisher (Indianapolis, IN) pitched in seven games last season (34.1 innings) and earned two victories. She has nine total victories on the mound in 138.2 innings of work inside the circle. She also has 22 career hits and scored 23 runs. Sophomore 1B Krista Lovell (Addison) made her debut with the Pioneers last year and collected eight hits (8 for 26), scored seven runs, and drove in three.
Brianna Dittman (Brooklyn/James Madison) returns for her third season. She has 12 career hits and 8 RBI in 23 games. Angela Martone (Candor) also enters year three and has seen action in 29 games and has scored 14 runs.
Second year players, Sarah Boyce (Cortland), Audrey Farrell (York/Notre Dame), and Jade Parsons (Ovid/South Seneca) will also be counted on. Boyce scored six times and drove in three last year, Farrell was 4 for 9 in three games last year and pitched 4.1 innings last year, and Parsons hit .357 with a pair of RBI in five games last year.
New faces on the roster include Katrina Catellier (Troy/Doane Stuart), Kailey Wonica (Staten Island/Moore Catholic), Emma Smithers (Waterloo), Karlee Stone (Brockport), and Lena Sassenhausen (Ontario/Wayne).
The Pioneers were slated to open up the season tomorrow (3/18) at Houghton but with wet and cold weather forecasted that game has been postponed until April 30th. The team will now open up the 2021 season on Saturday when they travel to Elmira for a Noon doubleheader with the Soaring Eagles.
