Feb. 18, 2010

Complete Release in PDF Format

The UMass Lowell River Hawk softball team was picked ninth in the Northeast-10 Conference preseason coaches’ poll, as announced by the conference office on Thursday. The team received 111 votes and was only three points out of eighth place.

Despite losing top player Stacey Lajoie (Gardner, MA) to graduation, the River Hawks are welcoming a six-member freshman class, including redshirt freshman Ashley Daniels (Medford, MA).

A new face on the roster is first year head coach Sean Cotter, who is coming off ten years as the head coach at Plattsburgh State.

“Based on last year, this is where I would expect others to put us,” Cotter said. “Fortunately for us, we get to play the season out. Our goal since I took over in late August was to get back to the NE-10 postseason and based on this poll, I guess we have some work to do.”

The River Hawks will look to use experience to their advantage, boasting 12 returning letterwinners from last year’s squad. The team is looking to build on a 10-31-1 season during the 2009 campaign, as nine of their ten wins last year came in conference play.

Pitcher Rachel Schafler (Florarl Park, NY) will look to improve on her team-best 2.94 ERA during her junior campaign. Classmate Hilary Hopkins (San Diego, CA) returns to the lineup this year after batting a returners’-best .306 during the 2009 season, with Elyssa Boris (Gardner, MA) not far behind, finishing the year at .281. Boris was a constant for the River Hawks, seeing action in all 42 contests, making 40 starts on the year and earned a team-best .986 fielding percentage.

“I know our core is chomping at the bit to put last year behind them, so I think our desire to get better is one of our biggest strengths this season,” Cotter said. “We have made a big jump in our talent from September 1 until now, but the key will be if we have another significant jump in our team improvement from now until May.”

Conference powerhouse Le Moyne (45-13-0, 24-4-0), fresh off a trip to the NCAA Championships last season, took the top spot in the poll, earning 222 overall points and 13 first place votes and was selected to earn its fourth consecutive conference title. Not far behind was New Haven (34-18-0, 21-7-0), which grabbed two first place votes and 204 points. Adelphi (32-14-0, 14-4-0 ECC) tallied 193 points and a single first place vote for their first season in the Northeast-10. Southern Connecticut (33-16-0, 19-9-0) and Southern New Hampshire (21-24-0, 17-11-0) rounded out the top five with 187 and 138 votes, respectively.

The River Hawks were also bested by American International (137 points; 23-22-0, 15-13-0 in 2009), Pace (136; 21-25-0, 15-13-0) and Merrimack (114; 26-19-0, 18-10-0), taking the sixth through eighth spots, while Bentley (102; 21-19, 14-14) finished the top 10.

“Our season is like the 800 meter race in track,” Cotter said. “Come out too quick and you may burn too early. Turn it on too late and your team may come up a little short. In that vein, we have to temper our excitement as the NE-10 schedule doesn’t start for another two months. It is our job as a coaching staff to get the team to peak at the right time.”

The River Hawks kick off their season with a nine-day, 16 game road trip to Florida from March 12-20. Their first conference tilt will be a doubleheader at Stonehill on March 30, while they open their home schedule on April 7 with a pair of games against Southern New Hampshire.

The complete NE-10 preseason coaches’ poll is available below:

SOFTBALL:

1. Le Moyne (13) – 222

2. New Haven (2) – 204

3. Adelphi (1) – 193

4. So. Connecticut – 187

5. So. New Hampshire – 138

6. American Int’l – 137

7.Pace – 136

8. Merrimack – 114

9. UMass Lowell – 111

10. Bentley – 102

11. Assumption – 93

12. Saint Anselm – 82

13. Stonehill – 75

14. Saint Rose – 74

t-15. Franklin Pierce – 26

t-15. Saint Michael’s - 26

( )=First place votes