2014 Outlook
Led by the return of 11 letterwinners and all nine starters, the Rider University softball looks to hit the ground running and return to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference playoffs in 2014.
The Broncs are led by preseason First Team All-MAAC selection, senior centerfielder Kehli Washington.
A 141-game veteran, Washington started all 49 games in the outfield as a junior and led the Broncs in hitting (.349), on-base percentage (.410), runs scored (34), hits (54), triples (1) and stolen bases (24), earning First Team All-MAAC honors. Washington handled 87 of 88 chances in the outfield for a fielding percentage of .989.
Washington enters her senior season with 140 hits, 25th best all-time at Rider.
Rider's other returning senior is utility Mary Rossi.
Rossi, who transferred from Mercer County Community College, appeared in 20 games as a junior (making 17 starts) and had six of her seven hits in MAAC games.
Rider returns four juniors, including Allysen Breeden, Amanda Irving, Gina McCool and Madison Rittley.
A preseason First Team All-MAAC selection as a sophomore, Breeden started all 49 games last season and made only seven errors in 146 chances as Rider's catcher, throwing out 16 would be base stealers with only one error in 16 conference games.
Irving started 47 games, 37 at second base as a sophomore and batted .317, the third highest batting average on the team and had the third most hits with 40, while compiling a 12-game hitting streak during the 2013 campaign.
A 103-game veteran, all starts, McCool played all 49 games as a sophomore and compiled 30 hits and a team-high eight doubles.
Rittley appeared in eight games as a sophomore, making six starts after batting .500 as a Rider rookie.
Five sophomores round out the returnees for Rider, including Montana Berg, Emily Cottrell, Samantha Judd, Dana Sensi and Kim Valdes.
Rider's only returning pitcher, Berg appeared in 11 games as a Rider rookie, including nine as a pitcher and had a season-high four strikeouts against Ohio and against Wagner.
As a Bronc rookie, Cottrell was one of five players to start all 49 games and she led the team in assists (108), was second on the squad with 23 RBI and was tied for second on the team with seven doubles, while handling 54 of 57 chances in the field.
Judd appeared in 39 games, making 27 starts during her freshman season, compiling 11 hits.
A Second Team All-MAAC honoree, Sensi started all 49 games for Rider at either first or third base and batted .320 with a team-leading .484 slugging percentage. Sensi also led the team with 27 RBI and six home runs as well as 74 total bases and she was second on the team in hits (49), runs scored (22) and doubles (7).
Rider welcomes seven newcomers to the squad, Megan Ailand, Morgan Benedetti, Amanda Crimarco, Delany DeMello, Kaitlyn Kallert, Megan McDonough and Josettee Spencer.
A 5-6, right handed pitcher, Ailand comes to Rider from Burlingame, California where she earned academic honors as a junior and senior.
Benedetti is a 5-8, left-handed catcher from Ewing, New Jersey and is majoring in Biology.
A 5-8 infielder from Levittown, New York, Crimarco in majoring in Accounting and she helped lead Kellenberg Memorial High School to two New York State championships and three straight league titles.
DeMello, a 5-4 right-handed pitcher and infielder from Roseville, California, earned All-League and All-Metro honors and threw a perfect game her junior season.
Kallert, is a 5-6 right-hander from Woodland Park, New Jersey, earned Third Team All Group III New Jersey honors for Passaic Valley High School while also earning First Team All-County and All-Conference honors.
From Olney, Maryland, McDonough is a 5-6 left-handed pitcher who also plays first base and will see time in the outfield and earned All-County honors at Sherwood High School where she also lettered in swimming.
Spencer, from Hillsborough, New Jersey, was a two-year letterwinner for the Central Jersey Group IV state champions (Hillsborough HS) where she also lettered in volleyball and track.
Looking to rebound from an eight win season in 2013, Rider has scheduled three tournaments, 10 home dates and the Broncs will also navigate the new 20-game MAAC schedule that will hopefully culminate with Rider participating in the new, six-team conference playoffs at Fairfield University, May 7-10.
Rider opens the season February 21-23, in Greensboro, North Carolina at the Aggie Invitational, hosted by North Carolina A&T. Competing with the Broncs in the five-game tournament are Maryland Eastern Shore, Saint Francis (Pa.), Morgan State and the host Aggies.
With the addition of Monmouth University and Quinnipiac University, the MAAC schedule now consists of 20 conference games, two against each of the 10 opponents, with the top six teams advancing to Fairfield, Connecticut and a chance at the MAAC automatic berth to the NCAA Championship.
Rider opens MAAC play with a home doubleheader against Saint Peter's University on March 30.
Other home MAAC series include Siena College on April 5, Quinnipiac on April 6, Marist College on April 13 and Manhattan College on April 19.
Several special events are planned for the home portion of the schedule at Herb and Joan Young Field and they include Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day when Rider hosts Princeton on April 1, Alumni/Fan Appreciation Day on April 13 when the Broncs host Marist and Rider will honor its graduating seniors on April 19, between games of the Manhattan doubleheader.
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