DATES AND TIMES: The tourney will begin Thursday, May 8 and continue through Sunday, May 11. There will be four games played (at least) on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. There are eight regional tourney sites. Besides Plattsburgh, N.Y., the other sites are at Tyler, Tex.; Fayetteville, N.C.; Eau Claire, Wisc.; Rock Island, Ill.; Ithaca, N.Y.; Glassboro, N.J.; and Providence, R.I. The finals, hosted by the City of Salem, Va. and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, will be held May 16-20 at the James I. Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, Va.

SEEDINGS: There are seven teams in the Plattsburgh Regional. In order, they are seeded as follows – 1) Montclair State (42-4), 2) Endicott (38-4), 3) St. John Fisher (24-19), 4) Cortland State (34-11), 5) Eastern Connecticut State (26-12), 6) Springfield (29-15), and 7) Keuka (23-7). Accortding to the latest NFCA National Poll, Montclair State is ranked 5th, Endicott 15th, and Cortland State 22nd. Wellesley, which Springfield defeated in the NEWMAC Championship games, had been ranked 22nd, but dropped out of the poll.

PAIRINGS: The format is double elimination. Springfield will open play on Thursday at 12 noon against #3-seeded St. John Fisher. In other games to be played on Thursday, Cortland State will meet Eastern Connecticut at 10 am, Endicott will meet Keuka at 2 pm, and the Cortland-ECSU winner will take on #1-seeded Montclair State at 4 pm.
On Friday, if it loses its first game, Springfield would play at 12 noon. If it wins its first game, Springfield would play at 2 pm against the winner of the Endicott-Keuka game.

TICKET PRICES: Tickets for the NCAA Division III Softball Regional at Plattsburgh State will be sold at the gate of Cardinal Park. Ticket prices for a single session (day) are $5 adult general admission and $2 student, seniors, and children under 12. Ticket prices for a tournament are $15 adult general admission, and $6 student, seniors, and children under 12. There will be no complimentary passes per NCAA regulations.

PRIDE NOTES

HEAD COACH KATHY MANGANO: Now in her 19th season at the helm, Kathy Mangano was recently named NEWMAC Coach of the Year. She enters this tourney with an overall record of 458-368-1 (.554), including 29-15 this season. She is the winningest coach in Springfield College softball history, and among the nation’s leaders in wins among active coaches. Since Springfield moved to the Division III ranks in 1996, her overall record is 331-217-1 (.604). Springfield has reached the NCAA Tournament five times under Mangano’s direction. The previous four came in 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2000. In NEWMAC Tourney play, Mangano’s clubs had reached the championship round five previous times before this season – 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2006 – but was not able to pull through until this season.

ALL-NEWMAC: Springfield College is led by a host of players. Four have received All-NEWMAC accolades. There are two who were named First Team All-NEWMAC. They include sophomore catcher Michelle Wlosek (Nutley, N.J.) and junior pitcher Samantha Rhodes (Mendon, Mass.). Two were also named Second Team All-NEWMAC. They included junior DP Danielle Spiro (South Windsor, Conn.) and senior 2B Denise Fumicello (Brockton, Mass.).

NEWMAC TOURNAMENT PLAY: Springfield entered the NEWMAC Tourney (April 23-27) with a 24-14 overall record, and 11-5 in the NEWMAC as the #3 seed. But the squad was on a hot streak, having won 15 of its previous 18 games. Leading 5-0 in game #1 of that tourney, the Pride wound up losing to #6-seeded Smith, 6-5. Springfield had beaten Smith, 10-0 and 8-5, earlier in the season. The loss meant that Springfield would have to win the tourney the hard way – by winning five straight. On Saturday (April 26), Springfield began the long trek back by defeating #5-seeded Babson, 3-1, eliminating the Beavers. Later that afternoon, SC defeated #4-seeded Clark, 9-4, eliminating the Cougars. On Sunday (April 27), Springfield would still need to win three games. Up first, SC defeated #2-seeded Wheaton, 2-1, eliminating the Lyons. SC would now need to beat #1-seeded Wellesley twice at Wellesley. They did so, again by scores of 2-1, the second coming in 8 innings. Junior pitcher Samantha Rhodes pitched every inning of the tourney, including winning all three games on Sunday, and all five games over the course of just over 24 hours Saturday and Sunday. Sophomore catcher Michelle Wlosek batted .385 during the tourney, knocking in the game-winner of game #2 versus Wellesley with a double as she was being intentionally walked in the decisive 8th-inning. For their efforts, Rhodes was named the NEWMAC Pitcher of the Week and NEISCA Co-Pitcher of the Week. Wlosek was named both the NEWMAC and NEISCA Player of the Week.

SPRINGFIELD IN THE NCAA’s: Springfield College softball has reached the NCAA Tourney on four previous occasions -- in 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2000. It has been eight years since the Pride last made an appearance.

SPRINGFIELD vs. 2008 NCAA TOURNEY TEAMS: The Pride is 4-5 versus teams this season which have made the 2008 field. That includes a 3-1 loss against Western Connecticut in Florida on March 17; a split versus Eastern Connecticut, winning 1-0 in game #1, then losing 3-2 in game #2 on March 26 at SC; a split of four games versus Wellesley, as Wellesley beat SC twice at SC, 5-1 and 7-3, on April 5, then SC defeating Wellesley twice 2-1 (the second in eight innings) at Wellesley on April 27 in the NEWMAC Championship round; and a split with Bridgewater State at Bridgewater, winning game #1, 11-2, then losing game #2 (2-0 in a game called by darkness after 4 ½ innings) on April 9. The only team in the Plattsburgh Regional that Springfield faced earlier is Eastern Connecticut State (1-1).

SELECTED BIOS OF SPRINGFIELD’S 2008 ALL-NEWMAC PLAYERS

FIRST TEAM ALL-NEWMAC

SAMANTHA RHODES – Junior Pitcher, Mendon, Mass./Nipmuc Regional High
A lefthander, Samantha has had a great season to date… She owns an overall record of 22-5, having won 15 of her last 16 decisions…Her 22 wins entering the Regional ties for second most in Springfield College history with Brianne Pearson in 2003, trailing only Nan Duga’s 35 wins in 2001...Samantha is only the fourth pitcher ever in Springfield College history to win as many as 20 games in a season… Rhodes has now won 42 games all told…Her record was 10-5 as a freshman, and 10-5 again as a sophomore, when she was the No. 2 pitcher in Springfield’s rotation…She has appeared in 35 games, starting 26 this season…She has thrown 24 complete games, including four shutouts…Her ERA is 2.06 in 200.2 innings pitched…She has one no-hitter (vs. Smith)…She has struck out 137, while walking just 29.

MICHELLE WLOSEK – Sophomore catcher, Nutley, N.J./Nutley High
For the second year in a row, Michelle is Springfield’s leading hitter…She batted .407 with 9 home runs in 2007…This season, entering the Regionals, this clean-up hitter is batting a team-high .414…She also leads the team in hits (55), doubles (12), home runs (8), RBI’s (36), total bases (91), slugging pct. (.684), and on-base pct. (.497). Just as importantly, she has yet to commit an error from her catcher’s position in 233 chances to date…In the NEWMAC winner-take-all championship game, a 2-1 8-inning victory over Wellesley on April 27, she hit a solo home run in the second inning, and then lashed a double as she was being intentionally walked to drive in what proved to be the winning run in the eighth inning…Besides being named First Team All-NEWMAC, Michelle was also named NFCA Division III All-New England Region First Team just two days prior to the Regional Tourney...In 2007, her post-season awards included NEWMAC Rookie of the Year, First Team All-NEWMAC, First Team All-ECAC Division III New England, and a All-NEISCA Division III First Team All-Star.

SECOND TEAM ALL-NEWMAC

DENISE FUMICELLO – Senior 2B, Brockton, Mass./Brockton High
Every team needs a spark-plug, and that player for Springfield for the past four years has been Denise Fumicello…Her career entering the regional includes 182 hits, 140 runs, 81 stolen bases, 39 doubles, 13 triples, and 79 walks…Her 29 walks this season is a school record…She also has 25 stolen bases this season in 26 attempts…She needs four SB’s to tie the SC single-season record of 29, set by Niffy Heggie in 1985… Fumicello bats lead-off for the Pride, as she has done the last four years…She is currently batting .319…As a sophomore, she was an NFCA Second Team All-Star…That same sophomore season, she was named the school’s winner of the Most Outstanding Sophomore Female Team Award.

DANIELLE SPIRO – Junior DP, South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor High
Danielle has been batting fifth for much of the season, and has proven to be a clutch hitter in protecting Michelle Wlosek in the four-spot…Danielle is batting .358, third-best on the team, and has started all 44 games the team has played…Her 148 at-bats lead the team in that category…She also has 53 hits, 2nd best on the team…She also has 7 doubles and 1 home run…Has not played in the field this season.

published: 05/06/2008