By Charlie Leffler Sports Editor
The Louisville Cardinal softball team comes into the 2002 season with one word on their minds: respect. The Cards are hoping that this is the year that they will earn the respect of not only their peers in Conference USA but from around the nation as well.
While such a goal may not seem too lofty for most programs it is not what most would expect from a team that has only been existence for two full years. “I do think it is a bit hard just cause we’re still kind of the babies of the whole softball realm,” said junior Keola Calderon. “That’s just going to take some time, some discipline and some maturity.”
Yet, after an impressive run in last season’s C-USA tournament the Cards will enter the season with confidence.
“I think last season we did surprise a lot of people,” Calderon. “I believe that our conference tournament was our best tournament. We all came together and fought hard and we played incredibly well.”
Coming off a 40-26 season, the Cardinals will have a young squad take the field this year and head coach Sandy Pearsall will need to fully utilize her coaching skills as she continues to build for the future. With only one senior and a large junior class, Pearsall will still have to rely on a lot of freshmen. When she first started the team, Pearsall brought in several junior college transfers to get off to a quick start. Last season, six of those transfers graduating opening up spots for six freshman this year. The coach knows that in order for the team to be better down the road the newcomers have to hit the field from the start. “Generally we don’t redshirt freshman we play them,” said Pearsall.
With the combination of experienced juniors and talented freshman the coach knows that anything can happen. “We’re kind of a mix,” said Pearsall. “We should have moments of granduer and moments of ‘Oh my God, what are they doing out there.'”
PITCHING
Right hander, Jessica Rak (pronounced- Rock) returns for her junior season and will be the team’s leading pitcher. Last season Rak finished with a 1.98 ERA and 154-strikeouts in 180-innings pitched. Yet, even with the outstanding numbers of a year ago they were a fall off from Rak’s freshman season, where she held a 1.25 ERA and is expected to return to her original form. Rak consistently hurls pitches between 60-62 mph but Pearsall thinks that her leading pitcher will be more consistent this year.
Problems in pitching may arise in the ability to create a steady rotation to back up Rak. Junior Kelly Blois is one player who is expected to provide immediate help. The transfer from Hofstra compiled a 13-11 record last season in 30 appearances and 27 starts while playing for the American East Conference champions. Blois also brings tournament experience to the team from having gone to the NCAA regionals in both of her years at Hofstra. Blois has compiled a 2.11 ERA with five shutouts, 116 strikeouts in 159.1 innings and only gave up a single home run all season. A pair of freshman will also need to be big contributors. Krystle Herold, a right hander out of Wildomar, CA. played for the American Pastime Gold travel ball club that finished seventh in the nation. Fellow freshman Aja (pronounced- Asia) Sherman will pitch and also play first. Sherman was given honorable mention on the Nevada All-State team last year.
OUTFIELD
The Cards will get a fielding boost this season from outfielder Shannon Nord, a transfer from Morehead St. The sophomore was named Best Defensive Player and to the OVC second team by finishing last season with a 1.000 fld% on 64-putouts, five assists and no errors in 41 starts. Keola Calderon is the Card’s top returning fielder with 115 putouts, seven assists and three errors for a .976 fielding percentage in 66 games.
Sara Bausher from Las Vegas’ Bonanza HS was the Sunset Conference MVP, named All-Nevada shortstop and First Team All-State in 2000. Bausher will play in the outfield this season.
Sophomore Kristi Rozelle proved to be an all-around steady player last season and will be used in utility this year. Rozelle saw time at first, second, and in the outfield as well.
As a senior at North Hardin High, Hayley Yourous (pronounced- YOUR-ohs) earned All-District honors in 2001. While not expected to contribute substantially at the start of the season, Yourous will provide a firm glove as a backup.
INFIELD
Though she battled injury part of last season, junior catcher Lisa McMillian led the conference by throwing out 17 opposing runners. McMillian finished the year with 199 putouts, 32 assists and four errors for a .983%. Freshman Jodi Thomas will also catch. The Jefferesonville, IN product earned All-State first team honors in both her junior and senior years. Freshman Lisa Estes, out of Ramona CA. received the Coca-Cola Golden Glove Award, Best Defensive Player Award, and was First Team All-League in both 2000 and 2001. She will add to the depth at catcher for the Cards.
Junior, Nicole Sparks has started at second base in nearly every game of the team’s existence and should provide a steady glove there again this year. Sparks had 153 putouts and 99 assists last season. Senior Kenzi Meisenburg will make the move from third to short stop this season and junior Melissa Jacobo will play third. Though she did not play last year, sophomore Thameka Baskin has worked hard to be able to add to the depth at the infield positions.
OFFENSE
With the loss of several good hitters from last season, Pearsall expects the team’s strength to rely upon its defense this year, yet the Cards still have three of the best hitters in the state returning. “We definitely have some great hitters on the program still,” said Pearsall, “but to hit at the clip we hit last year would be a tall order for any program. Last year the Cards hit .294 as a team with most of the starters hitting over .300.
Juniors, Melissa Jacobo, Keola Calderon and senior, Kenzi Meisenburg all hit over .300 last season and should improve this year. Jacobo hit .366 and is expected to break .400 this year. The Louisville slugger swatted three homeruns and 24-RBIs for a .522 slugging percentage. Jacobo led the conference with 20-doubles last year. During the off season Jacobo worked on her bat speed and ability to recognize pitches so that she could meet her goal. Calderon hit .345 last season with 76-hits and 111-total bases. Miesenburg hit .321 with 69-hits and was second on the team with 45-runs. Meisneburg led the team in stolen bases last year by getting 19 on 25 attempts, but the team gets an added boost from Nord who led MSU in thefts last season as well.
The main factor of this year’s team will be in how they handled a schedule that has been considerably beefed up. “We’ve really pumped up out schedule to the next level,” said Pearsall, “which is going to test our kids” The Cards started off the season in the Florida State Tournament at the beginning of February and let without a win 0-4. But Louisville did take heart in the fact that the three of the teams that they played were ranked in the nation’s Top-25. The Cards lost to No. 22 South Carolina, No. 9 Washington and No. 15 Florida State while the fourth team, Florida Atlantic entered the rankings the next week.
“The biggest thing for us is can we keep our team healthy enough cause we have very little depth,” said Pearsall. “We’re kind of on a thin line.”
Louisville will play its home opener on March 1-3 in the Cardinal Spring Tournament at Ulmer Field.
