Season Preview: Softball to enter Ali Hess era with clean slate, high expectations
By Tim Glon
ADA — The Ali Hess era of Ohio Northern softball program will get underway in 2014 with a clean slate and a wide-open battle for starting positions all over the field.
Hess will have plenty of talent and experience at her disposal with a balanced roster made up of four seniors, four juniors, four sophomores and six freshmen.
The Polar Bears welcome back 12 lettermen, seven starters and its top six hitters from 2013.
Northern will be gunning for its sixth OAC Regular Season title in the last eight years this spring.
ONU finished with a 13-15 overall record and posted their eighth consecutive upper division OAC finish with a 9-9 mark.
It will be a different team with a different style this spring.
But the goals will remain the same: win the OAC Regular Season and Tournament titles and get back to the NCAA III Tournament.
"Everything is wide open this spring," Hess said. "We are looking to bring a new aggressive playing style in all phases of the game: hitting, fielding and base running. We are working hard to be fundamentally sound. We may well have many different people in different roles as the season goes on."
Senior three-time First Team All-Conference outfielder Christin Miller leads the list of returners.
Miller led the squad in batting (.412), runs scored (23), base hits (42), doubles (6) and stolen bases (6) in 2013.
She is a two-time All-Central Region honoree and currently ranks 6th all-time with 192 career base hits.
Senior Colleen Baliga also returns and has started both in the outfield and at third base in her three-year career.
Baliga has a career batting average of .307 and is coming off a 2013 campaign in which she hit .362 with three home runs.
She was named First Team All-Conference and Second Team All-Region as a junior in 2013.
Senior Carly McKenzie started all 28 games a year ago at second base and can play either middle infield position.
She batted .319 last season and shared the team lead with five home runs.
Bree Hiteshew rounds out the list of returning seniors and is an all-around player.
Hess describes Hiteshew as the "ultimate utility player" and she has practiced at all eight fielding positions.
Junior Kelly Sheridan has started 72 games in the outfield in the past two seasons.
She was named All-OAC and was the OAC Freshman of the Year in 2012 and was second on the team in batting last season with a .378 average.
Sheridan is a career .373 hitter and is just six base hits away from becoming the 35th member of ONU's 100-Hit Club.
Junior Jamie Westenkirchner started 28 games at first base last year after starting 23 times at designated player as a freshman.
Junior Adriana Sikora has played in 39 career games in the outfield and at designated player and junior Taylor Manahan returns after lettering twice as a utility infielder.
The sophomore class is led by Anne Dreher and Amanda Lahti.
Dreher started all 28 games as a freshman at third base and as designated player and finished the season with a .279 average and tied for the team lead with five home runs.
She was named Second Team All-Conference as a rookie.
Lahti started 24 games behind the plate last season, batting .294 with a home run.
Sophomore Lindsay Simmons played in 15 games and scored six runs in 14 pinch-running appearances.
Sophomore Tessa Topp played in three games as a reserve catcher last year and will likely battle for more playing time this season.
The incoming freshman class is a talented one that will likely have a large impact on this season.
Kristen Burden, Paige Ordean and Tiffany Kline will make up a pitching staff comprised entirely of first-year players.
Burden and Ordean will stay in the circle exclusively, while Kline may also see action in the outfield.
Courtney Hendershot, Megan Hupp and Kendra Paul are most likely to compete for playing time in the outfield.
"We will have three freshman pitchers, but we think our three experienced catchers will be able to add a level of calmness," Hess said. "Our players are working very hard and we are looking for some leadership from a wide range of players. We feel good about where we are and what we could become.
"The players know that there are no limits to what they can accomplish. They just need to not limit themselves. We are very excited about getting outside and competing."
The Polar Bears will kickoff the season March 1-8 with 12 scheduled games at the Dot Richardson Games in Clermont, Fla.
Northern will have a challenging non-conference slate, starting with a home doubleheader against #9 Trine (Ind.) on March 18 at the ONU Softball Field.
Other opponents that participated in last year's NCAA Tournament include Alma (Mich.), Adrian (Mich.) and NCAA III World Series participant Anderson (Ind.)