Newsline  

Softball Team Looks Forward to New Season

Release Date:
March 5, 2004
Contact:
The Office of Sports Information
(716) 649-7900 ext. 333

March 5, 2004

 

HAMBURG, N.Y. - The Hilbert College women’s softball team is preparing to make a run for the North Eastern Athletic Conference championship. The Hawks will open their season when they appear in the Snow Bird Softball Tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C. during the week of March 13-20.

           

Hilbert finished last season with a record of 8-20, establishing a new school record for wins in a season. The Hawks were ranked 19th in NCAA Division III team batting average (.343). Second-year head coach Bill Goc will depend on junior captains Katie Ahearn (Lancaster/Lancaster, NY) and Jessy Huntz (Pioneer/Arcade, NY) for leadership this season. Ahearn, a first baseman, hit .307 last season, while outfielder Huntz hit .351.

 

Other returnees include sophomore catcher Amber Fie (Olean/Olean, NY), sophomore outfielder Jeannette Testa (Forestville/Forestville, NY), junior second baseman Holly Beecroft (Mt. Mercy/Buffalo, NY), and senior outfielder Marissa Chini (Lackawanna/Hamburg, NY).  Also returning to the team after a one-year layoff is shortstop Chandra Walsh (Lake Shore/Blasdell, NY), who is Hilbert’s career leader in home runs, triples and runs scored.

           

Fie, the 2003 NEAC Player-of-the-Year, led the team with a .494 batting average (6th in the nation), four home runs, seven doubles, 18 runs batted in, and 11 stolen bases.  Testa was the team leader in walks with 16, while Beecroft and Chini combined for 22 runs scored.

           

Coach Goc, who will be assisted by former Fredonia State standout Kelly Shannon, has brought in a strong recruiting class that will contend for playing time this season.  Newcomers looking to make an impact this season are senior outfielder Denee Hillebert (Pine Valley/South Dayton, NY); junior third baseman Emily Steele (Batavia/Batavia, NY), and freshmen utility player Kaitlyn Miller (Depew/Depew, NY), pitcher Meghan Gollaher (Spencerport/Rochester, NY), shortstop Katie Schrecongost (Falconer/Falconer, NY), third baseman Kim Klein (Pioneer/Yorkshire, NY), and  outfielders Michelle Greco (Southwestern/Jamestown, NY) and Christine Schweickert (Springville/Springville, NY).

           

The Hawks will play their first home game at 3 p.m. April 5 when they take on East Region powerhouse St. John Fisher College. Other teams who will be visiting Hilbert include Penn State Behrend (April 13), D’Youville College (April 16), Keuka College (April 17), Wells College (April 20), and Medaille College (April 22).


Hilbert College, located in suburban Hamburg, N.Y., south of Buffalo, is a private four-year college founded in 1957 in the Catholic Franciscan tradition. With nearly 1,100 students, Hilbert is a dynamic Western New York college that offers career-focused majors, including one of the top criminal justice programs in the region, and more than 50 minors and concentrations. The college’s engaging, student-centered campus community offers numerous leadership, internship and service learning opportunities from which students launch successful careers while making positive changes in their communities. Hilbert has expanded its academic offerings with the college’s first graduate programs, one a master’s in criminal justice administration and the other a master’s in public administration, and new Accelerated Degree Programs geared to adult learners.