Young YSU softball team ready to run

February 3, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

If you ask Miranda Castiglione, the most important part of being last year’s Horizon League co-player of the year was that it happened last year.

“The award really humbled me, but I kind of just dropped it at the end of the season,” she said. “I’m approaching this season as a new slate.”

That shouldn’t be hard. After graduating five seniors including Horizon League pitcher of the year Casey Crozier, the Penguins’ roster has a lot of question marks, in large part because it has a lot of underclassmen (13).

Penguins coach Brian Campbell said the team will focus on using its speed to create runs — and prevent them.

“We’re a little bit different team-wise as far as the speed,” Campbell said. “We have a lot of young ladies that can come in and put a little more pressure on defenses this year. With that being said, we do have some players that can hit the long ball.

“But our focus this year has been more on base-running. Putting the ball in play, making things happen, putting pressure on defense.”

Offensively, YSU’s biggest threat will be Castiglione. The Brampton, Ontario, native ranked second in the league last season with a .395 batting average. She led the league in hits (70) and runs (43) and ranked third in homers (10), helping the Penguins finish 30-24. It was the second-highest win total in school history.

The Penguins also return the league’s freshman of the year in infielder Sarah Dowd, who batted .270 with six doubles, a triple and seven homers.

On the mound, senior Kayla Haslett — the only senior on the roster — returns after going 9-10 with a 3.40 ERA last year. She’ll need to be even better this fall to help replace Crozier, who graduated with school records for career wins (60) and career strikeouts (565).

YSU has seven freshmen, including local standouts Stevie Taylor (South Range) and Cali Mikovich (Austintown Fitch). Campbell said a few of those freshmen will start when the Penguins begin their season against Maryland-East Shore and St. John’s (N.Y.) on Friday at the Campbell Tournament in Buies Creek, N.C.

They’ll play four games in two days in Buies Creek, which is about 45 minutes south of Raleigh.

“It’s definitely going to be interesting to see the dynamic of the team,” Castiglione said. “I think that we have a lot of different lineups that we could go with. I think no matter who’s in the field or who’s in the dugout, we’re going to be a strong unit this year and we can go pretty far.”