Chapman Softball Set to Start

The Chapman softball team, NCAA Division III national champion in 1995 and runner-up in 1996, starts this season Saturday without one of the keys to its success: dominant pitching.

Christy Guidorizzi, the power pitcher who was 53-8 with more than 500 strikeouts the last two seasons, transferred to Texas, and Chapman will depend on two freshmen to take her place.

Even so, Panther co-coach Janet Lloyd is setting high goals.

“It’s a building year,” Lloyd said, “but we’ll see. I don’t know if we can win it, but we’ll give it a shot.”

Lloyd is optimistic because, unlike last season, the Panthers are deep with talent. The 1996 team basically played with nine players during the postseason. Now Lloyd has 20 players in the mix.

“We have 13 freshmen,” Lloyd said, “and I could probably start nine and have a great team.” That, however, won’t be necessary because the Panthers have quite a few strong players returning from last year’s team.

Guidorizzi, catcher Kathy Donovan and shortstop Lisa Cancilla, all All-Americans, are no longer around, but junior center fielder Jessamine Maiben (.488) and sophomore right fielder Laurel Bailey (.362) are back. Junior Lacee Rashi (first base), senior Lisa Simpson (third base) and sophomore Jenni Bankus (second base) also are returning starters.

But because of the influx of talent, Lloyd said there will be competition at most positions. “It’s a nice situation,” Lloyd said. “Unfortunately, you can only play nine people at once. I wish we could field two teams.”

The Panthers’ strength, Lloyd said, will be defense and hitting. Team speed, a weakness last year, is improved. A look at some of the Panther newcomers:

--Stephanie Carew, the daughter of Hall of Famer Rod Carew, transferred from UCLA. A sophomore, she will play first base and provide power at the plate.

--Amy Barnes is a freshman middle infielder from Foothill High.

--Katie Chauvin is a freshman outfielder from Mater Dei.

--Heather Peters is a freshman shortstop/third baseman from Redondo Beach.

--Leslie Prochaska is a freshman outfielder from Kennedy High.

--Samantha White is a junior outfielder from Rancho Santiago College and Irvine High.

--Shannon Carlson is a freshman outfielder from Anaheim High.

--Anna Haluschak, a freshman catcher from Washington, will share time at the position with Bankus.

In the pitching circle, Chapman will count on Brittany Carlson from San Clemente High and Katie Smithson from Troy. Senior Melody Robles will be their backup. Maiben was 13-4 last season and could be used in a pinch, but she’s an All-American outfielder and Lloyd hopes it won’t be necessary.

The pitching staff should be bolstered by the addition of a pitching coach--John Campbell, a former Cal State Fullerton pitching coach who has been working recently at Saddleback College.

Chapman, which starts the season Saturday by hosting Cal Baptist in a doubleheader at Hart Park, is ranked third in a preseason poll by Fastpitch magazine. Defending champion College of New Jersey is top ranked and Simpson (Iowa) is No. 2.