United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Softball

Coast Guard is coming off the greatest season in program history as the team became the first team to go unbeaten in New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play as the Bears posted a 15-0-1 mark and finished with a school record 39 wins and a 39-7-1 record, won a school-record 28 straight games and reached the NCAA Division III New England region championship game in its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance and finished ranked 24th nationally.

The Bears must replace a pair of All-conference and All-region outfielders from what head coach Donna Koczajowski called one of the best outfields in New England. Center fielder Annette Boston and left fielder Jeannie Crump, who were also the table setters in the Bears order, batting lead off and second, must be replaced. Boston hit .319 and led the conference with 40 runs scored and 30 stolen bases while Crump hit .341 with 19 stolen bases and 19 RBI’s. First baseman Colleen Denny, who hit .318 and was third on the team with 31 RBI’s was also lost to graduation.

Despite the three quality starters that the Bears lost, the Bears return a trio of first-team All-conference selections including sophomore pitcher Hayley Feindel who had an outstanding freshman season in which she led the nation with 34 wins, was 34-6 with 13 shutouts and a 1.24 ERA in 288 innings and shattered the single-season school record with 382 strikeouts.

Feindel certainly took home the hardware after her sensational freshman season as she was the ECAC New England Pitcher and Rookie of the Year, the New England Softball Coaches Association (NEISCA) New England Player of the Year, a first team All-New England selection by the NFCA as well as NEWMAC Pitcher and Rookie of the Year.

“Hayley was a dominant pitcher last year and she is a very talented player who did not rest on her laurels after last season,” said Koczajowski. “She has worked extremely hard in the off season. She has dramatically improved her physical conditioning, her self-confidence and her pitching mechanics. Hayley’s most impressive trait is her concept of team, she is the ultimate team player.”

The Bears other two All-conference returners happen to also be the top two hitters from last season, senior Courtney Wolf and junior co-captain Amanda Frederick.

Wolf led the team with a .371 batting average, broke the old school record of nine homers set by Suzie Van der Veer in 2002, by belting 14 homers while also driving in 47 runs, just two shy of Van der Veer’s record 49 in 2002. Wolf is now the Bears’ career-leader with 19 homers. Wolf was a second team All-region selection by both the NEISCA and the NFCA, an ECAC first team All-Star, as well as earning first team All-conference honors.

Frederick, who was second with a .366 average, led the team with 11 doubles and was second in homers (4) and RBI’s (42). She was also named second team All-region by the NEISCA and the NFCA, an ECAC first team All-Star while earning first team All-conference accolades.

Koczajowski has a much more interchangeable team this season with several players able to play more than one position.

Sophomore Maddie Buchert (.306), who was primarily the designated player last season, will start at first base while freshman Catherine Walker will backup at first base and serve as the Bears second pitcher.

The Bears are solid up the middle as sophomore Jamie Kim (.213) will once again start at second base while junior Becky Miller (.223) is back at shortstop.

Wolf returns at third and Frederick behind the plate, but both will also see time as the designated player allowing the versatile and talented freshman Holli Bastinck to get time both at third and at the catcher spot.

Senior co-captain Carin Sweeney, who started in right field last year, makes the transition into center field. The corner positions will be filled with all new talent. Megan Cook or Stacia Sarwinski will start in left field while Summer Dupler or Caitlin Force will start in right field. Freshman Corrine Hartwell will be in the mix for time in right field. Junior Anna Funk will be a key to the Bears outfield. She will compete with Sweeney for the start in center field, while showcasing her speed in the corner outfield spots as well.

“The two corner outfield spots are open as we enter the season and whoever steps up and performs well is going to get the most playing time,” said Koczajowski.

As if all that was not enough, the target on the Bears back got a little bigger in the preseason, when the team was ranked 11th nationally in the NFCA preseason poll.

“The preseason ranking is a tribute to last year. This year is a new year and we have a lot of prove,” said Koczajowski. “We don’t have the ability to sneak up on people and there is more pressure on us, but we learned to play well in pressure situations last year.”

The one thing the Bears did not accomplish last season, was winning the NEWMAC tournament a year ago. “We stumbled in the conference tournament last year, but I think those losses inspired us to play as well as we did in the NCAA’s, we just lost that competitive fire for a weekend during the conference tournament and we cannot allow that to happen again,” added Koczajowski.

The Bears open the season on March 7th at the Rebel Games in Kissimmee, Florida with a pair of games against Misericordia and Albion.