SOFTBALL IN THE FALL || Penguins getting ready for 2010

YSU will have some new faces on the roster when they open play in the spring.

By PETE MOLLICA

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

Brian Campbell’s first season as Youngstown State head softball coach was not exactly what he had hoped it would be. This fall, he’s doing everything he can to get the Penguins ready for the 2010 spring season.

The Penguins were just 8-42 in Campbell’s first year, but over the spring and summer Campbell went out and brought in six new freshmen players and he’s been getting a good chance to look them over this fall.

The Penguins have already played four games this fall and are 2-2, including the recent YSU Fall Classic when they invited 13 schools to take part in the tournament.

This Saturday, Campbell will take his Penguins to the Kent State Fall Classic where they will take on Akron in a 10 a.m. game and then play Kent at noon.

“Things have been going pretty well this fall,” Campbell said. “We’ve played four games and we’ve been experimenting with all sorts of different lineups.

“We’ve got six new freshmen on the roster and 10 of the 17 players on the roster are either sophomores or freshmen,” he added.

“We’ve had some good efforts from sophomores Jordan Ingalls and Haley Thomas along with junior Kim Klonowski, who really just started playing last year, so I consider her a sophomore also,” he added.

Ingalls led the Penguins in hitting last season as a freshman, batting .331, while Klonowski, who earned All-Horizon League honors, batted .329.

The Penguins return senior pitcher Cheryl Cale, who recorded seven of the team’s eight wins last year with a 4.13 ERA.

“Cheryl has been pitching very well this fall,” added Campbell. “She had a no-hitter through four innings in her last outing, but then we changed lineups and she didn’t get a chance to finish. We’ve been doing that all along this fall, just trying to find the right combinations.

Besides Cale, the Penguins have three other seniors on the team. They include outfielder/catcher Kristina Davidson of Columbiana, pitcher Erin Schindler and outfielder Autumn Grove.

The six new additions to the team are all from out of the area, the closest being Columbus and includes two pitchers, Kayla Vallery of Atlanta, Ga., and Hana Somogyi from Chicago, Ill., who also plays third base.

The other four freshmen include utility fielder Rebecca Bonola of Cibola, Texas, shortstop Caroline Krombach of Wauwatosa, Wis., catcher Vicky Rkumph of Palmerston, Ontario and Sarah Gabel of Columbus.

“We’ll end our fall season with a pair of games over at the Akron Racers Tournament, but we still don’t know who the teams will be in that event,” Campbell said.

“Thus far this fall we’ve noticed a big improvement from our returning players now that they’ve had a full season under their belts with my system,” he said. “They seem to feel more comfortable with the system now.”

“We’ve been focusing a lot more on defense and not giving up the extra outs,” Campbell added. “This year so far we’ve done a good job of not making those little mistakes and have worked hard to not let those unearned runs score.”

The Penguins will also host its second annual free clinic Sunday at McCune Park in Canfield. The clinic will run from noon to 2:30 p.m. for girls from eighth through 12th grade. For information email assistant softball coach Tiffany Patteson at tmpatteson@ysu.edu.