Reigning Region 20 Champions open season Saturday in North Carolina
Ralph Wilson – Potomac State College
Keyser, W.Va. – The Potomac State College softball team opens the 2022 season this weekend when they travel to North Carolina to face Cleveland Community College. The Catamounts will play the Shelby, N.C. opponent in a pair of doubleheaders, Saturday at noon and again on Sunday at noon.
Following a 20-7 regular season campaign in 2021, the Catamounts swept their way through the Region 20 Division II Softball Tournament, capturing the program's fifth Region 20 Championship since 2015 with a perfect 3-0 record in the double elimination event.
Potomac State's 2021 season eventually ended at the hands of Delaware Tech CC in the East District Tournament.
Head Coach Craig Rotruck is optimistic for the Catamounts 2022 season and repeating. "We have a lot of experience, we have lot of talent, everywhere on the field," said Rotruck. "If we keep working, keep improving we have a legitimate shot to win the Region and hopefully make a trip to the World Series."
This year's roster, 16 players deep, includes 4 players who are returning for a third season of competition, compliments the Covid pandemic. In addition, 5 players are returning for their second season and 7 will be making their collegiate softball debut.
Leading the crop of returning players is pitcher Taylor Townsend who started 17 games last season with 12 wins and a 2.41 ERA. Joining Townsend on the bump will be Brianne Stocks, 9 wins and 3.79 ERA in 2021, and Madison Whetzel who collected 3 saves last year and is expected to see an increased work load this year.
Along with experience sophomore Infielders Josie Deneen, Maddie Anderson and Alexis Bailey will bring pop to the PSC lineup. The trio have played a combined 137 games for Potomac State. Deneen has 23 career home runs and a career .884 slugging percentage. Anderson has a career slash line of .386/.500/.596. Bailey led last year's team with a .452 average and drove in 22 runs.
Aurora Slusher is the lone returning outfielder for the Catamounts. Slusher appeared in 17 games last season and carries a .438 average into this season.
Behind home plate Skylar Ross and Camryn Blacka expect to share catching duties again this year. The experienced duo split time equally and effectively last year with Ross catching in 18 games and Blacka in 17 while each committed just 4 errors.
"We have a lot of experience," commented Rotruck about his sophomores. "Having third year players in Juco is a luxury we can't usually enjoy and returning a total of 9 players that were major contributors last year is even better. We're hoping our experience pays dividends."
Rotruck and his staff are just as excited about the freshmen on the roster as they are the sophomores. "Our freshmen class is talented and deep," said Rotruck. "We need contributions from everyone to be successful, and they (freshmen) have the ability to contribute immediately."
Freshman infielders include Kasey Pope, Emma Turner, Allison Dean and Mia Kincaid. First-year outfielders are Jenna Burkhamer and Simone Blanks and newcomer Grace Walsh is an utility played/catcher. Burkhamer and Turner are also pitchers.
After opening the season in North Carolina this weekend the Catamounts return home for a three game homestand against Corning Community College of New York and a Region 20 double header at Howard CC.
The schedule then takes Potomac State south again to North Myrtle Beach, S.C. during Spring Break to participate in the Fastpitch Dreams series. There they'll play eight games in four days against seven separate opponents.
After Spring Break, the Catamounts return home to settle into the more traditional schedule.
In total Potomac State has a 50-game schedule that includes NJCAA opponents from five separate Regions and three NCAA opponents.
Asked about this team's schedule, Rotruck said: "We build our schedule with post-season success in mind, starting in fall ball, we schedule as many games as we can, against the best quality we can."
Rotruck continued, "In the Fall we scheduled Marshall University, Bowie State, Frostburg State, Shepherd, Davis & Elkins, Washington and Jefferson, Penn State Beaver, Penn State Dubois and more. In the Spring we schedule two trips south to play strong competition in favorable weather and we reach outside of our Region to schedule strong opponents. All this so we are at our best when post-season arrives, we want to prepare ourselves as much as possible to win and advance."
Joining Coach Rotruck on staff for the 2022 season is assistant Richie Thompson (3rd year), assistant DJ Anderson (3rd year), assistant Charlie Kuykendall (2nd year), pitching coach Marley Thompson (1st year) and strength and conditioning coach Scott Huffman (3rd year).