By Chris Danforth / Sports Information Office

 With the 2014 season approaching,  the Eastern Connecticut State University softball team has one goal in mind: a fifth straight Little East Conference regular-season championship.

Eastern is scheduled to open the 2014 season with four games in Virginia the weekend of March 1-2. The Warriors face SUNY Oneonta twice, nationally-ranked Christopher Newport University once and Virginia Wesleyan College once.

                                                                                                         At right: Mattie Brett

After a disappointing end to last season, Eastern plans to avenge its loss by claiming that championship. In the LEC pre-season coaches' poll,  Eastern ranks only behind Western Connecticut State University.

When asked if being ranked second motivates her team, 13^th year head coach Diana Pepin said: “I like it, it takes the pressure off us, our goal is to win a fifth title. However, if the coaches want to vote that way because we lost (first-team All-America  third baseman Ariel) Cooper and (first team right side infielder) Kelly (Paterson) so be it, I don't really think it affects anything that we are trying to do. Were just trying to play Eastern softball, which is 'pitch-by-pitch' and 'out-by -out', and I think it does motivate us a little bit more because Western is a rival.”

Last year, that rival defeated Eastern in the winners' bracket of the LEC tournament on the Warriors' home field, and the next day, Rhode Island College knocked Eastern out, spoiling an opportunity for the Warriors' four-year seniors to make a clean sweep of the conference tournament throughout their careers.

The 2013 campaign was another solid season for the Warriors. They had an overall record of 28-14; however they came up short in the postseason. During the season they were able to put an impressive ten-game win streak together and were the number one seed in the Little East tournament with an 11-3 conference record.

Capturing a fifth straight LEC regular-season and recording a fourth LEC tournament title in five years won't be any easy task. The injury bug has already stung the Warriors early this year as senior catcher Megan Bondy (Mystic) has been ruled out for the season with a concussion. Senior Megan Godwin (Manchester) is also battling an arm injury and is out indefinitely.

Pepin is optimistic, however, that Godwin – a four-year starter in the middle infied -- will return saying: “she's determined to be back and working hard with physical therapy and everything. With her mindset, she will be back in some capacity.”

In addition to those injuries to seniors,  senior centerfielder Mattie Brett (Waterford) will be student teaching this semester. Brett hit an impressive .378 from the plate last year. Brett may not miss too many games, but she will have the difficult task of balancing softball with student teaching.

Even with all the injuries Eastern still has a solid team with a lot of experience. A bulk of the experience is on the mound and in the field. Eastern has three players returning from the pitching staff, juniors Erin Miller (Waterford) and Shannon Martin (Wethersfield), along with sophomore Emily Komornik (Shelton). These three last year had a combined record of 21-8 with an ERA of 3.08 in 63 appearances.  Freshmen Samantha Valentine (Ridge, NY) and Summer Cipriani (North Stonington) complete the staff.

The 2014 staff is unique and all the pitchers are different in their own ways. Pepin says the key is playing solid defense. “We have to play solid defense behind our pitching. We have more experience this year than we did last year. The corners are being replaced, but (junior) Sam Rossetti (Shelton) has played first, so it's really just replacing third base right now.”

Replacing LEC Player of the Year Cooper however is no easy task. It's nearly impossible to duplicate the offensive year that she had – felt by many to be the most outstanding individual season in program history by a position player -- so Pepin is focused on creating stability over on third and hoping the veterans pick up the productivity lost at the plate.

As for the rest of the position players, it looks like Eastern will be going with sophomore Taylor Smyth (Meriden) at catcher, Rossetti at first, senior Jen Tamindzija (Malden, MA) at second, sophomore Alyssa Hancock (Waterford) at shortstop, and freshman Hannah Latham (Salem, NH) at third.

As a freshman last year, Smyth started 20 games behind the plate, while Tamindzija started a team high 15 games at second. Hancock enjoyed an impressive freshman season, starting all 42 games and hitting a solid .312; Rossetti was third on the team with a .368 batting average.

The outfield will be comprised of senior Stephanie Johnson (Plantsville) in left, Brett in center, and Martin in right field. Johnson hit .246 at the plate last year, while Martin was at .295. Brett started all 42 games and had the second highest batting average (.378).

Sophomore transfer from Springfield College Samantha Rentz (Griswold) will be the main utility player in the infield and freshman Samantha Bardos (Norwalk) will be the main utility player in the outfield.

Eastern has a very deep team and will be looking to get contributions from sophomore Alicia White (Colechester), and freshmen Rebecca Defeo (Exeter, RI), Gini Georgetti (Milford), Tyler Keegan (Middletown), Kelsey Mosher (Oxford, MA), and Kristyn Ryan (Barkhamsted).

This is a very unique coaching staff, in that all coaches are former Eastern softball players. Assistant coach Tammy Schondelmayer is in her fourth year after playing four years in the late 1980s and starting on three teams which reached the national title round, two of them winning titles.. She is the positive attitude in the dugout. Pepin said of Schondelmayer: “She's more of your confidence booster, and makes sure the team is staying positive.”

Molly Rathbun, a 2012 graduate is in her second year as an assistant coach. A four-time All-America pitcher and program recordholder in virtually every pitching and many hitting categories, works mostly with the pitchers and catchers. She relates to the players very well because she is younger and just finished her playing days.

This year, Katie Livingston returns to the program on a volunteer basis. She played under Pepin in 2008 and was part of Pepin's first Eastern team to reach the NCAA tournament. She will be working with outfielders and the batters. The program's winningest head coach, Pepin says of her staff: “What you need to understand with our staff is that we all are Eastern alumni, so we have a vested interest in this program and how the tradition is being maintained.”