New Look Diplomats Ready for 2006 Softball Season

by Sports Information
3/2/06

LANCASTER, PA – For the Franklin & Marshall College softball team, the 2006 season will be a time of change.

In the wake of a season in which they finished ninth in the Centennial Conference with a 4-12 record, 6-28 overall, the 2006 edition of the Diplomats will take to the field with a new look, but the same goal: win the Centennial Conference and advance to the NCAA Tournament.

Following the loss of seniors Laura De Palma, Jonelle Coletta and Erin Benjamin to graduation, the Diplomats will turn to captains Dana Johns (Sr., York, PA/Eastern York) and Morgan Marks (Jr., Furlong, PA/Central Bucks East) to lead the team this season.

An All-Centennial Conference first team selection in centerfield last year, Johns hit .284 (31-for-109) with 17 runs scored, three doubles, five RBI and 26 stolen bases on 32 attempts last year as she raised her career totals to 81 hits, 37 runs, 10 doubles, one triple and 27 RBI in 92 games.

She could have a chance to make history this season, as well, as she is 47-for-61 in career stolen bases to rank fourth in school history in the category, 20 off the school record 66 held by Mimi Young ’96.

Marks is coming off a sophomore season in which she hit .253 (19-of-75) with five doubles, one homerun and nine RBIs as she tied for the lead in multi-RBI games last year with pairs of RBIs in three games.

Other returning players to watch include pitcher/infielder Bonnie Crouthamel (So., Chatham, NJ/Chatham), infielder Kathleen Clinchy (So., Katonah, NY/Somers), infielder/pitcher Myrhia Brewer (So., Newton, MA/Rivers School), pitcher Laura Kaesshaefer (So., Philadelphia, PA/William Penn Charter), catcher/infielder and team captain Leah Pearlman-Storch (So., Bala Cynwyd, PA/Friends Central), catcher/infielder Liz Iannaconi (So., Palisades Park, NJ/Dwight Englewood School) and pitcher Ali Tyler (So., Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood).

Behind the plate, Iannaconi returns after scoring five runs and knocking in two runs in 32 games last year. Defensively, she threw out four base stealers on the season while picking off one.

The team’s first baseman last year, Clinchy led the team in runs batted in and walks last year with 11 and 10, respectively, as she batted .260 with four doubles, two triples and six runs scored.

In the circle, Crouthamel returns after tallying three wins in her freshman campaign as she fanned 42 batters in 54.1 innings with three complete games and a save. At the plate, she batted .262 (22-of-84) with seven RBI while finishing second on the team in doubles (five) and runs scored (15).

The Diplomats will also look to seven first-year students, including infielder/outfielder Jessika Mancino (Lancaster, PA/Hempfield) and Barbara Sasso (Warren, NJ/Watchung Hills Regional), infielders Samantha Basuk (New York, NY/Indian Hills) and Meredith Morgan (Phoenixville, PA/Owen J Roberts), outfielders Krystin Alex (Melville, NY/Saint Anthony) and Jessica Feldman (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) and catcher Lauren Incorvaia (Manalapan, NJ/Saint John Vianney).

Franklin & Marshall will open the 2006 season at Baker Campus versus Messiah College on March 7th in a double-header. Game one is set for 2:30 p.m.