Published: February 22, 2008 11:50 am         

FSU softball begins Feb. 29

FROSTBURG - Frostburg State will be fielding a young team, but with five returning seniors, including three Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference all-stars and the league's newcomer of the year last season, coach Wes Landrum is confident his Bobcats will be just fine.

FSU has a mix of seven seniors and juniors and nine sophomores and freshmen. Four of last year's top five hitters return.

"We should be right in the mix this season," said Landrum. "Our goal is to win the conference and get that automatic (NCAA) bid. If we can continue to grow both offensively and defensively, we should be in the mix at the end of the season."

Seniors Amanda Baldwin and Meghan Dabkowski return as the only four-year players on the roster.

Baldwin, a co-captain, returns for her final year as the team's catcher after starting in every game the last two seasons. This spring she will see a majority of her time at catcher but could also play at shortstop and third base. She hit .271 with 26 hits and 10 RBIs.

Dabkowski will see most of her playing time in the outfield. Offensively, Dabkowski put up career-high numbers last year when she had 21 hits and was third on the team in batting average (.304), slugging percentage (.348) and RBIs (12).

Heather Proud joins Baldwin as the other co-captain and is coming off an injury during her junior season.

Lindsay Seal enters the season as the starter at third base after solidifying the infield last spring. Lindsay Durkin rounds out the senior class and will look to contribute to the pitching staff and outfield again this season.

The Bobcats have just two juniors: Kaitlyn Wagner and Jayme Miller.

Wagner enters the spring as the team's starting shortstop. Wagner, who has the strongest arm on the team, made the move to short after starting 28 games at second base as a freshman.

Miller, a transfer from nearby Garrett College, will compete for playing time at several positions.

Among the five sophomores is Katelyn Coffey, the team's top pitcher and last year's AMCC Newcomer of the Year. She was 9-6 with a 2.58 earned run average as a freshman. She was 6-2 with a 1.73 in conference play and had a perfect game against Penn State Altoona.

Second baseman Kelly Filipowicz led last year's team in batting average (.390), slugging percentage (.403) and on base percentage (.397).

Amber Macintosh led the team in runs scored (20), hits (32) and stolen bases (7), and batted .317. She will battle for a starting position in the outfield.

Samantha Quirin is a returning starter at first base, and Lindsay Freitag enters the season as the probable starter in center field after making the switch from infield last season.

Kelly Callan heads the class of four freshmen and enters the preseason as the squad's No. 2 starting pitcher. Victoria Krichbaum will see time in both the infield and outfield this spring. Kathryn Claeys will contribute in the outfield or pitcher. Brooke Tapman, also a field hockey player, could see time in both the infield and outfield this season.

Frostburg State begins its season Feb. 29 at the Beach Blast in Virginia Beach, Va., where the field includes three NCAA Tournament teams from last year in Christopher Newport, Methodist and Lynchburg.