WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – It will be one year and one day since the 2020 season ended when the Lycoming College softball team takes the field at Arcadia University in the season opener on Sunday, March 14.
 
One year since one of the saddest eight-run wins on a spring break trip ever. It was rather obvious after the 12-4 win over Dean that the pandemic was about to take hold. Two days later, Lycoming College began remote classes for the remainder of the semester, the first time in its 208-year history that an academic year had been so dramatically altered.
 
It was a sad end to a season that started out with a 6-2 record during the spring break trip. But with a new spring comes rebirth and Division III softball is poised to play safely through the last stages of the pandemic.
 
Lycoming will have to replace three talented players from the 2020 team and it will do so with an infusion of four players that enjoyed acclaimed prep careers. Over the course of the team's 24-28 game schedule, the team, under eighth-year head coach Melissa Montoro, will also look to develop and gain experience for a sophomore class that played just nine games and get back to the most basic of concepts after a season was taken too soon: competing in every inning of every game.
 
Coach's Take: "It's definitely a different season, different than anything we have experienced before. Preseason has been a lot different than anything that we've ever done before. We're approaching everything one day at a time. If last year taught us anything, it's that a season can end at any time.
 
"We lost some key starters from last year and it did hurt that we didn't get some of the underclassmen innings last year, so it's almost like having two freshman classes this year. Even our sophomores and juniors don't have that playing experience, so we're a young team, but I think we have a lot of talent. We'll do fine competing. The MAC Freedom is new to us, but competing isn't. We have to compete in every inning of every game.
 
"We feel fortunate that we were given the opportunity to play any games and we're looking to take advantage of it."
 
Pitchers
Lycoming returns a grand total of 49 innings of pitching experience. The good news is that is the sum total of innings from 2020, but that is also the bad news. The team's pitching staff didn't get the opportunity to grind through a conference season, just a stretch of eight games in five days in Myrtle Beach.
 
Junior captain Angie King (Cooperstown, Pa./Maplewood) tossed the most in 2020, throwing 21.1 innings and posting a 2-0 record and 11 strikeouts, notching wins over Greenville and Dean. Sophomore Payton Whary (Coal Township, Pa./Shamokin Area) was the team's other main starter, posting a 3-2 record and a 3.37 ERA in 18.2 innings. She tossed a six-hitter in an 11-1 win over Fitchburg State.
 
Sophomore Kaleigh Kinley (Bellefonte, Pa./Bald Eagle Area) also tossed nine innings, sporting a 1-0 record and a 0.78 ERA, striking out six and earning a win over Lancaster Bible.
 
First-year Kylie Russell (Cogan Station, Pa./Jersey Shore) gives the Warriors its first left-handed arm in recent years and she comes to the team after posting a 10-3 record during her junior year at Jersey Shore, when she helped the team to the district championship game.
 
Coach's Take: "Our pitching staff is new all over again. Last year, Angie, Payton and Kaleigh would have gotten a lot of innings and they barely got any because of when the season ended. Adding Kylie, we're going to use all four of them throughout our four games during the weekend. They all have different strengths, but collectively, they work well together. We can use all of them as starters, mid-relief or closers. I think we'll see 2-3 innings here and there and hopefully that will get us through most games."
 
Returners: Angie King, Jr., 5-7, R/R, Cooperstown, Pa./Maplewood; Kaleigh Kinley, So., 5-4, R/R, Bellefonte, Pa./Bald Eagle Area; Payton Whary, So., 5-3, R/R, Coal Township, Pa./Shamokin Area.
 
Newcomers: Kylie Russell, Fy., 5-1, L/L, Cogan Station, Pa./Jersey Shore Area.
 
Catchers
A trio of players with experience behind the plate gives Lycoming the most depth that it has had behind the plate during Coach Montoro's tenure. Junior captain Kacee Reitz (Milton, Pa./Milton Area) and senior Lydia Yorks (Jersey Shore, Pa./Jersey Shore Area) appear poised to see most of the time behind the dish, while sophomore Mackenzie Glosek (Coal Township, Pa./Shamokin Area) could see time catching, but will likely be used in the field as well.
 
Reitz started four games at catcher in 2020 and 21 in 2019, when she finished third on the team with a .300 batting average. Reitz also showed a strong arm throughout her career, gunning down 60 percent of would-be base stealers during her shortened sophomore year.
 
Yorks started the other four games at catcher in 2020, hitting .200 with two runs scored. She also made 31 starts at catcher in 2018, hitting .243 that season and posting a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
 
Coach's Take: "It's been great to have three really good catchers on our team. It has helped our younger pitchers develop through the preseason. Lydia has the most experience because she's been in the program the longest, but Kacee is right there, too, and they push each other. Mackenzie didn't have the opportunity to catch last year, but she would have gotten innings, too. The three of them are solid behind the plate, which will be key for us because the infield is also young. We'll look to them for leadership."
 
Returners: Mackenzie Glosek, So., 5-5, R/R, Coal Township, Pa./Shamokin Area; Kacee Reitz, Jr., 5-2, R/R, Milton, Pa./Milton Area; Lydia Yorks, Sr., 5-6, L/R, Jersey Shore, Pa./Jersey Shore Area.
 
Infield
Senior captain Taylor Gessner (Lewisburg, Pa./Meadowbrook Christian) will occupy third base for the fourth straight season, as the hard-nosed player will give the team a consistent presence that has already played in 80 career games. She enters her senior year with a .286 career average and 40 runs scored while normally occupying one of the top four spots in the batting order.
 
At first base, it looked as if junior Morgan Christine (Riegelsville, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic) was on the verge of securing the starting spot in 2020 after hitting .409 with seven RBI through the first eight games.
 
Glosek will also see time at first base, allowing Christine to move into a designated player spot if needed. Junior Morgan Klosko (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) returns after an injury kept her out in 2020. A Second Team All-MAC Commonwealth selection as a designated player in 2018, she hit .295 with 21 RBI as a freshman. Both players lend added versatility to the lineup.
 
The middle infield will likely not be as static.
 
Montoro said Reitz, Kinley and first-years Rachel DeWolfe (New Cumberland, Pa./Cedar Cliff) and Missy Van Klingeren (Byram Township, N.J./Lenape Valley Regional) will compete through the early stages of the season to earn the second base and shortstop spots, which were vacated by a pair of 100-hit club members in Kayla Kline '20 and Madison Brown '20.
 
Coach's Take: "The infield is really young all the way around. Taylor is the only person with a ton of experience. We're going to look to her for a lot of leadership this year. She will see a majority of time at third base. At first base, Morgan Christine has been at first base before and Mackenzie Glosek is going to rotate in there. The middle infield is brand new – we lost two four-year starters so we're going to look for Kaleigh Kinley, Rachel DeWolfe, Missy Van Klingeren and Kacee Reitz to fill in those positions. We haven't solidified who is a second base or shortstop, but we're hoping that we can use the first couple games to get someone comfortable there. They are all extremely athletic so we'll see a rotation of those four until we figure it out."
 
Returners: Morgan Christine, Jr., 5-10, R/R, Riegelsville, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic; Taylor Gessner, Sr., 5-2, R/R, Lewisburg, Pa./Meadowbrook Christian; Mackenzie Glosek, So., 5-5, R/R, Coal Township, Pa./Shamokin Area; Kaleigh Kinley, So., 5-4, R/R, Bellefonte, Pa./Bald Eagle Area; Morgan Klosko, Jr., 5-6, R/R, Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Valley West.
 
Newcomers: Rachel DeWolfe, Fy., 5-4, R/R, New Cumberland, Pa./Cedar Cliff; Missy Van Klingeren, Fy., 5-5, R/R, Byram Township, N.J./Lenape Valley Reg.
 
Outfield
Similar to the infield where Gessner has solidified the starting job at third base, sophomore Morgan Wetzel (Mill Hall, Pa./Central Mountain) has taken hold of the job in center field after she hit a team-best .536 with nine runs and 14 RBI in eight games in 2020. A fast outfielder with a strong arm, Wetzel gives the team a five-tool outfielder.
 
In the corner outfield slots, Montoro will be able to turn to a variety of options, although plenty will depend on who the pitcher is in a given game. That's because King, Whary and Russell all could see time in the outfield when not pitching, while Yorks could move into the outfield when not catching if needed.
 
King also had a breakthrough offensive effort as a sophomore, hitting .500 (9-for-18) with two doubles and six RBI in the shortened season.
 
Sophomore Madalyn Bechdel (Beech Creek, Pa./Central Mountain) and first-year Kylie Segraves (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport Area) will both also see time in the outfield, as Bechdel hit .308 in five starts in right field in 2020.
 
Coach's Take: "Morgan Wetzel played all eight games in the outfield last year. Angie King will fill in along with Payton Whary when they aren't pitching. Madalyn Bechdel will see time. Kylie Russell will find time out there when she isn't pitching and Kylie Segraves will play, too. The first-year class is solid all the way through and I expect them to compete for time right away."
 
Returners: Madalyn Bechdel, So., 4-10, R/R, Beech Creek, Pa./Central Mountain; Angie King, Jr., 5-7, R/R, Cooperstown, Pa./Maplewood; Morgan Wetzel, So., 5-10, R/R, Mill Hall, Pa./Central Mountain; Payton Whary, So., 5-3, R/R, Coal Township, Pa./Shamokin Area; Lydia Yorks, Sr., 5-6, L/R, Jersey Shore, Pa./Jersey Shore Area.
 
Newcomers: Kylie Russell, Fy., 5-1, L/L, Cogan Station, Pa./Jersey Shore Area; Kylie Segraves, Fy., 5-6, R/R, Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport Area.