Softball looks to rebound tomorrow

While the Penn softball team probably won't find a suntan tomorrow in West Chester, it won't find a national powerhouse like Oklahoma either. After dropping seven of their first nine games in Florida over spring break, including two to the Sooners, the Quakers are looking to rebound with a doubleheader sweep of the lowly Rams. "We beat 'em last year," sophomore Abby Shore said. "And this year's team is 100 percent better than last year's team. We have a lot of good bats now. They weren't awake in Florida, but we do have a lot of good bats." Fortunately for the Quaker batters, the West Chester pitching staff should be the next best thing to No-Doze. The Rams do not return a single pitcher or catcher from a team that went 8-21 in 1993. West Chester will be forced to rely on two junior college transfers -- junior righthanders Heather Richardson from Ocean City Community College and Jen Hoffmaster from Keystone Junior College -- as well as freshman righthander Jodi Held to fill the gap. "Mentally, it helps us to know about their pitching situation," Penn coach Linda Carothers said. "We'll see what we do offensively and defensively. It's game day that matters." The Quakers, on the other hand, have a number of talented hurlers, led by junior co-captain Dawn Kulp and four-year starter Lanie Moore. With Moore recovering from an injury, freshmen Vicki Moore and Melanie Bolt will likely see action as well. In the field, Penn is anchored up the middle by senior co-captain Rachel Walsh at shortstop and senior catcher Stacey Thompson, while Shore bolsters the outfield. Although the Quakers have a number of key veterans in the starting lineup, they are still a relatively young team. With 11 freshmen on the 20-man roster, Penn has sacrificed experience for depth and young talent. Despite their record, the Quakers (2-7) have played well at times in the early going, earning shutouts in both victories. Carothers believes that to win, the inexperienced Quakers need to be more consistent -- beginning tomorrow. "We're going to play game by game," Carothers said. "We have a couple of adjustments to make. Defensively, we've got some things we need to do better. That's what we've been working on in practice. Tomorrow, we'd like to duplicate what we did last year and win two games to start us off on a winning note."