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BEAVER TOWNSHIP - Under the direction of head coach Brian Campbell, now in his 16th season at the helm, the Youngstown State women's softball team has become a force in the Horizon League, finishing at or near the top of the regular or postseason tournament standings since 2016.
Despite losing five starters from their 2022 squad, last season's youth movement produced a 27-27 overall mark and 12-10 conference ledger, ending the campaign one game short of playing for the league championship and an opportunity to advance to the NCAA tournament.
Campbell is cautiously optimistic that this year's team can pick up right where last year's squad left off and make a deep run in league play, all with the hope of earning an NCAA bid.
"We had a lot of young ladies graduate from our 2022 team. We lost our shortstop, left fielder, center fielder, third baseman and pitcher, so going into last year we were an experienced team," Campbell told the Curbstone Coaches during Monday's weekly meeting at Avion Banquet Center. "We gained valuable experience throughout the year, however, played very well in the Horizon League tournament and despite losing our first game by a run, ended up advancing to the loser's championship bracket and finished just one game away from playing on Saturday.
"The experience was one thing and kind of hard to overcome when you have that many young ladies graduating, all of whom were starters. Of those five players, four were fifth-year starters due to the COVID year, but the team did a wonderful job despite their inexperience. We built while we went along, and it showed in the tournament when we made that run.
"Last year, we put ourselves within one or two games from being one of the top two teams in the league. Just being in the top half of the conference gives you a chance for a better schedule and seed when you head to tournament play."
Of the 22 players that dot this year's roster, four have local ties including Conchetta Rinaldi of Cardinal Mooney, Minerva's Elyssa Imler, Sophie Howell of Champion and former South Range Raider standout Bree Kohler.
"That is one thing I have always strived to look at in all my years here at YSU and that is the local talent, what we have had on the team and those who are currently on our roster," Campbell added. "Elyssa [Imler] is our shortstop, Conchetta [Rinaldi] is a fifth-year player who has played a number of games for us, Bree [Kohler] is another local player with plenty of experience while Sophie [Howell] is a senior who did a tremendous job last year, throwing every single pitch for us in last year's Horizon League tournament. We are delighted to have them all back again this year."
The Penguins are 24 days away from opening their season against Delaware at the Gardner-Webb Tournament and Campbell, the winningest coach in YSU softball history, continues to prep his team for their season lidlifter.
Their depth chart includes Jillian Jakse and Taylor Truran at first base, Sara Fessler and Ellie Hartman covering the Keystone sack, Imler and Audrey Thomas at shortstop with Lydia Wilkerson and Grace Palaczynski at the hot corner.
Lauryn Swanson and Sydney Payne are left field hopefuls, Hailey Nikederkohr and Macy Littler the centerfielders while Ashlyn Bishop and Kohler occupy right field.
Rinaldi, Kennedy Dean, Cassandra Carlson and Reese Campbell-Schaller are all set to call signals behind the plate for Howell, Boggess, Devan Ryan and Autumn Behlke when they toe the rubber.
"We are excited because this year we will have an opportunity to use players in different areas, an opportunity to have defensive, some offensive kids and the DH, which is probably down to four or five players that could potentially line up there," Campbell said. "That's the exciting part of this year because we have multiple positions that can line up with different players each game."
The Penguins' schedule is once again challenging while the Horizon League should be as competitive as in years past.
"There are a lot of players coming back in our league," Campbell noted. "Oakland's top pitcher returns and she is a fifth-year pitcher while Northern Kentucky has a couple good twirlers as well. Green Bay's top pitcher is back and that makes a lot of difference there, both for regular season games and in conference play. It's the same for pitchers that are returning to the other teams that we are playing."
Next week, Jim Rosenhaus, Cleveland Guardians radio broadcaster, will serve as guest speaker.
sports@vindy.com