St. John's University Athletics
2011 St. John's Softball Season Outlook
2/9/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 9, 2011
VIDEO: Season Preview With Coach Kvilhaug | VIDEO: Season Preview With The Players | 2011 Record Book | 2011 Schedule | 2011 Schedule PDF | 2011 Quick Facts | Inside St. John's Softball
QUEENS, N.Y. - Bolstered by four core seniors and a slew of rising stars, the 2011 St. John's softball team looks to charge up the BIG EAST Conference standings in what should be an exciting season for the program.
St. John's head coach Amy Kvilhaug heads into her fifth season at the helm with 19 players donning a Red Storm uniform this spring. Kvilhaug expects the team's focus and commitment to hard work will result in success on the field.
"The philosophy that we're taking is to not just focus on results, but focus on the process and getting better every day," Kvilhaug said. "If we can say that we put our best foot forward, we hope the results will reflect that. There is a lot of excitement for the start of the season. We are just going to take it one game at a time and continue to get better every day of the season."
For the second straight year, the Class of 2011, consisting of Kacee Cox, Chelsea Durning, Kat Lawrence and Linzee Sumrall, will lead the way for the Red Storm. Cox, the team's primary power hitter, and Durning, STJ's consistent leadoff hitter, anchor St. John's attack at the plate and both are on the cusp of breaking of a host of school records. Offseason resolve has prepared Lawrence and Sumrall for bounce-back seasons in the circle as both look to return to their dominant, high-strikeout form of 2009.
"The senior class is unique and special for me because it is my first class here at St. John's," Kvilhaug said. "They are my first graduating class that I will have coached for four years, so that is exciting. I am eager to see them go out on a high note and I hope they all play well and up to their potential and ability."
The team will build off of the continued progress and player development it showed in 2010. Returning juniors Kristi Cady, Meghan Gwynn and Julia Sanchez made major strides at the plate, raising their batting averages and run production. Last season, sophomores Amber Curry, Dominique Marcelino and Chrissy Montez previewed their immense potential as power hitters, athletic base runners and dynamic fielders and all three are set to make a greater impact in their second season in Red and White.
An influx of eight St. John's newcomers has provided the team with unprecedented depth, raising the expectation levels at every position and pushing the Red Storm to perform at a high level. Junior transfer Fachon Jones provides the team with another speedy outfielder and veteran presence. Freshmen Devin Amar, Ashley Beza, Aleshia Link, Kelsey Moyer, Jackie Reed, Myriah Rodgers, and Michelle Tilson are ready contribute immediately and give the Red Storm a variety of looks in the field and in the lineup.
St. John's is coming off of a 2010 campaign in which the Red Storm batted .294 over 29 non-conference games, ended a nine-game losing streak to conference rival DePaul, posted a program record-tying seven BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll selections and featured an All-BIG EAST second team and Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-Great Lakes Region second team honoree in Cox.
The Red Storm ranked in the top 5 in a variety of BIG EAST statistical categories, including batting average (.272, fifth), slugging percentage (.388, fourth), on-base percentage (.335, fifth), home runs (33, fourth) and stolen bases (64, fifth).
CATCHERS
In 2010, Cox was an offensive tour de force for St. John's, leading the BIG EAST with a .404 batting average and ranking in the top 10 in hits (61, seventh), RBI (46, tied for fourth), home runs (nine, tied for eighth) slugging percentage (.649, fifth), on-base percentage (.471, seventh) and total bases (98, tied for seventh). Catcher has become one of the team's deepest positions and Amar, Marcelino and Tilson will likely see their share of action behind the plate.
INFIELDERS
Marcelino and Rodgers will step up to fill the void at first base left by recent graduate Stacia Dopudja, who manned the position for the past two years.
The strength of the St. John's defense resides in the middle infield, where the Red Storm returns sophomore starters Montez and Curry at shortstop and second base, respectively. Both tied for second on the team with six home runs and Curry posted a team-high 20 steals. In addition to serving as key offensive players, Montez and Curry also give STJ one of the most athletic middle infields in the conference, making highlight-reel catches and turning double plays with relative ease. Gwynn and starting third baseman Sanchez are the primary backups in the middle.
Sanchez ranked second on the team with 40 assists in 2010 and returns for her third season manning the hot corner. Freshmen Reed and Tilson also provide quality depth at third. Junior Britni Hawley, who has served mostly as a pinch runner, will serve as a backup infielder and catcher.
OUTFIELDERS
St. John's returns two of its three starting outfielders in Cady and Durning. Cady's great range in center and strong throws to home plate continue to be defensive assets for the STJ pitchers. Durning, who has committed just two errors in 193 fielding opportunities, can start in either left or right, where the Red Storm graduated longtime starter Shauntaine Harris. Jones' speed and Moyer's fielding prowess are added strengths of a potent St. John's group patrolling the outfield.
PITCHERS
Lawrence returns as the ace of the staff and enters 2011 just 89 strikeouts away from breaking Gina Calabrese's school record of 553 Ks. Lawrence hopes to build off of a fall season in which she tossed 19.1 scoreless innings. Sumrall, who made a team-high 34 appearances last season, also looks to have a resurgence in the circle. Beza has been impressive since arriving at St. John's and will be an immediate contributor as a starter. Link, who has the best fastball on the team, has made steady strides and is also ready for competition.
SCHEDULE
Matchups against 12 teams that played in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, including road series against BIG EAST perennial powers DePaul and Notre Dame and games against local powerhouses Fordham and Hofstra, highlight St. John's 2011 schedule.
"We have put together a very competitive non-conference schedule to go along with an always challenging BIG EAST conference schedule," Kvilhaug said. "Twelve of our opponents are NCAA Tournament participants from a year ago, so we expect to go up against great competition quite a bit this season."
The Red Storm opens its season with six road tournaments that will provide the team with some tough early tests heading into its BIG EAST slate in late March. Five teams in those six tournaments recorded over 40 wins in 2010.
The Seminole Kickoff Classic will be held Feb. 11-13 in Tallahassee, Fla. St. John's starts the season on Feb. 11 against a pair of NCAA Regional participants in Florida State and defending CAA champion Hofstra. The Red Storm then plays UNC-Greensboro and a second game based on tournament record the following day. STJ will conclude its trip to Sunshine State in either the tournament's championship or consolation game.
The following week, St. John's will compete in the Pirate Classic from Feb. 18-20 in Greenville, N.C. The Red Storm will play three games against NCAA Regional participants East Carolina and Virginia, facing the defending Conference USA Champion Pirates twice. STJ also has a pair of games against a familiar foe in Kent State, a team that swept the Red Storm in two games last season.
St. John's returns to the Lone Star State for the first time since 2007 for the Texas Tech Tournament held Feb.25-27 in Lubbock, Texas. The team will face Wichita State and NCAA Regional participant Texas Tech twice each before wrapping the tournament against Northern Illinois.
The Red Storm will spend Spring Break in Florida for a pair of tournaments. From March 5-6, STJ will play in the FGCU Tournament in Fort Meyers, Fla., facing St. Francis (Pa.), Colgate, Tennessee-Martin and Florida Gulf Coast. St. John's will then head up Interstate 75 to Clearwater, Fla., to compete in an exhibition game against the Dutch National Team on March 8 and then in the USF Tournament from March 11-13. The USF Tournament features games against Saint Joseph's, Quinnipiac, Toledo and NCAA Regional participants Maryland and Massachusetts. UMass is the defending Atlantic-10 champion.
St. John's wraps non-conference tournament play with the JMU Dukes Invitational held March 18-20 in Harrisonburg, Va. The Red Storm will take on Binghamton and James Madison twice each and play Lehigh once.
The Red Storm opens its home schedule on March 23 against NCAA Regional participant Fordham in a rematch of one of the team's most thrilling games from 2010. Last season, Sumrall went pitch-for-pitch with All-American Fordham pitcher Jen Mineau for 10 innings before the Rams pulled out a 3-0 win in the Bronx.
St. John's starts BIG EAST play with a three-game home series against USF from March 26-27. The team makes its first conference road trip the following week to face DePaul in Chicago for a three-game set from April 2-3.
Following an April 6 doubleheader at Seton Hall, STJ returns to Red Storm Field from April 9-10 for three games against Providence. The Red Storm heads over to Brooklyn to face defending NEC champion LIU on April 12 and returns to Queens to host a doubleheader against Villanova the next day.
From April 16-17, St. John's will play Georgetown in a three-game series in Washington D.C. The team returns to Red Storm Field to host Pittsburgh on April 21 and 23 and heads up Long Island to Hempstead, N.Y., for a rematch with Hofstra on April 26.
St. John's final regular season road trip is to Notre Dame, Ind., as the Red Storm wraps BIG EAST regular season play against the Fighting Irish for the second straight year. The team will play Wagner in a doubleheader on May 7 for its regular season finale.
The BIG EAST Championship will be held in Louisville, Ky., for the fourth consecutive season from May 12-14.
