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| Senior Courtney Young led the team in average, home runs and RBI last season |
Skyhawks Sixth Place In NE-10 Preseason Poll
Easton, Mass. - After reaching the playoffs for the first time in 12 years, the Skyhawks look to continue their ascent into the upper echelon of the Northeast-10 as they are placed sixth in the NE-10 preseason poll, as announced by the conference on Thursday.
Stonehill finished 23-20 a season ago and 15-14 in the NE-10 to make the conference tournament as the seventh seed, but fell to conference finalist Bryant in the first round. The Skyhawks return nine letter-winners from that squad, including senior All-Conference player Courtney Young (Danvers, Mass.).
An NE-10 First-Team All-Conference performer a season ago, Young appeared in 42 games for Stonehill, splitting time at designated player and catcher. She led the Skyhawks in batting (.367), slugging (.642), on-base percentage (.441), RBI (32), doubles (12), home runs (7), total bases (77) and walks (16). Her seven home runs tied her own school single-season record and her 17 career homers are tops in school history.
Also returning to the field for Stonehill are senior outfielder Kate Brides (West Bridgewater, Mass.) and senior pitcher Katie Mottau (Woonsocket, R.I.).
Brides played in 42 contests last season, and was tied for fifth on the team with 34 hits while batting .254 with 10 RBI and 18 runs scored. The senior swiped a team high eight bases and was one of two players who didn't commit a fielding error on the season.
Mottau appeared in 22 games for the Skyhawks a season ago and finished second on the team with eight wins. She led the team with eight complete games pitched in 108 innings of work, while also striking out a team high 55 batters on the season.
Stonehill starts their 2009 campaign on the road, traveling to Florida to play in the Rebel Games. The Skyhawks face off against national powerhouse and sixth ranked Ferris St. at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday March 8, and then take on St. Could St. at 3:00 that afternoon.