IWU Softball Looks for Fresh Start, Improvement

A new coach, some talented new players, and even new uniforms, herald a fresh start for the Illinois Wesleyan softball team as it looks to put a disappointing 2005 season behind it.

Coach Lloyd Hulit takes the reins of a team that finished 20-18 overall and 5-9 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin and aims to restore the tradition that produced five straight 30-win seasons (2000-04) and four NCAA Division III tourney appearances (2000-03).

The Titans open their season Sun., March 19 in the Rebel Spring Games in Orlando, Fla, playing Ramapo at 8:50 a.m. and Pacific Lutheran at 12:30 p.m. IWU’s first home date is April 1 with a noon doubleheader against Carthage.

Hulit plans to rotate players in the lineup during the 10-game Florida trip to get a clearer idea who his starters will be as the Titans meet competition.

Among Hulit’s key returning players is junior shortstop Molly Coers (Manito, Midwest Central HS), a first team all-CCIW selection who hit a team-high .375 with 45 hits and 17 stolen bases.

Joining Coers in the infield are veterans Katie Frawley (Oswego, N.Y., HS) at first base and Ashley Deck (Bolingbrook HS) at second base. A senior, Frawley batted .268 with a team-best 11 doubles while Deck, a sophomore, hit .286 with eight doubles.

Sophomore Kendahl McIntyre (Dallas, Texas, Bishop Lynch HS) and junior Erin Cruz (Des Plaines, Maine West HS) are third base candidates and senior Michelle Bradley (Oak Brook, Downers Grove North HS) is back as catcher after starting 29 games last season.

Sophomores Kelly Nelson (Palos Heights, Stagg HS) and Katie Dobry (Elmhurst, Willowbrook HS) are other catchers.

Also returning are junior leftfielder Laura Johnson (Morton HS) and senior centerfielder Natalie Hackett (New Lenox, Lincoln Way Central HS). Johnson batted .257 with seven doubles, four triples and a team-high 18 runs batted in while Hackett batted .198 with four doubles and 10 RBI.

Sophomore Kayla Kindred (Bloomington, Normal Community HS) can play rightfield and may also see time at second base, while junior Stephanie Gockley (Lisle HS) is back as the designated hitter after hitting .326 with 16 RBI in 2005.

Gockley could also see outfield time, along with Deck and freshmen Natalie Chase (Libertyville HS) and Monica Urban (Wheaton, North HS).

In the pitching circle, Hulit returns last season’s stalwart Lauren Hyland. The junior logged a 9-10 record with a 1.37 earned run average and struck out 92 in 109 innings.

Frawley, who was 3-3 with a 2.58 ERA, and sophomore Alison Winter (Wheaton, Wheaton-Warrenville South HS), who appeared in four games in 2005, will be joined by talented freshman Valerie Hackett(New Lenox, Lincoln Way Central HS) to bolster the Titan pitching corps.

Other pitchers include freshmen Andrea Eaton (Normal, West HS) and Kara Krause (Cullom, Tri-Point HS).