Concord Softball Set to Open Season at Barton and St. Andrew’s

Concord head coach Alisa Tasler, who enters her third season at CU, returns seven players from last year's team that went 20-31 overall and finished 8-18 in West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. The Mountain Lions will compete out of the newly formed Mountain East Conference in 2014.

Leading the returners will be two of the more-seasoned players for the Mountain Lions in junior outfielder Jessica Seymour and junior pitcher/outfielder Lacey McDougall.

Seymour was one of the cornerstones of the CU lineup last season, earning all-conference honors after batting .359 with 40 runs, four home runs and 19 RBI. Seymour, who started 49 of the Mountain Lions' 51 games, also led Concord in stolen bases with 13 in 16 attempts.

Meanwhile, McDougall batted .307 with 23 runs, two home runs, 30 RBI and nine doubles at the plate. In the circle, McDougall made 28 appearances with 25 starts while compiling a 10-15 record, a 3.45 earned run average (ERA), 68 strikeouts and a stellar batting average against of .268. The Chesapeake, Va. native was an all-conference performer as a freshman in 2011.

Rounding out Concord's four-woman junior class are first baseman Brantlea Wood and second baseman Whitney Carrigan. Wood was fourth on team in fielding percentage last season at .944 and will have the third-highest returning fielding percentage on this year's team after finishing 2013 with 89 putouts and just six errors in 108 chances. Carrigan had an exceptional year in the field last season too, recording a fielding percentage of .909 with 88 putouts and 82 assists in 187 chances as a sophomore. Her 82 assists ranked third on the team.

Sophomore catcher Alyssa Morris will look build off her outstanding freshman campaign in which she earned all-league honors after hitting a Concord single-season record nine home runs in addition to a team-high .614 slugging percentage, .359 batting average, 29 runs, 36 RBI and a .414 on-base percentage. Morris, who tallied hits in 39 of her 51 games played in 2013, begins her second year with the Mountain Lions already sitting fifth in career home runs, needing just nine more to tie Concord Hall of Famer Crystal Kestner and Ashley Jackson for first place all-time.

Fellow sophomore outfielders Kristi Benvenuto and Katie Allen are also back for another year in Athens. In her rookie campaign, Benvenuto started 45 of 48 games played and posted a .351 on-base percentage, the fifth highest any Mountain Lion in 2013, as well as scoring 14 runs and driving in 11 more. Allen appeared in seven games as a reserve a season ago, registering two hits in 10 at-bats.

Seven true freshmen and three transfers will be making the Concord debuts in 2014.

Sophomore Kristen Rose comes to Concord after a highly-decorated freshman season at Finlandia University where she was named Rookie of the Year and earned first team all-independent honors by the Association of Division III Independents after leading the Lions in batting average (.462), runs scored (51), hits (48), home runs (eight), walks (13) and on-base percentage (.508) while also driving in 42 runs.

Sophomore pitcher Allie Reid spent her first season of collegiate athletics at NCAA Division I Radford University where she pitched in 15 games, going 1-0 in 31 innings of work with 11 strikeouts and a 4.29 ERA.

Sophomore infielder Rachel Bohannan hit .284 with 14 RBI in 2013 at the Marion Military Institute in Marion, Ala.

Concord's freshman class consists of outfielder Lacie Geisel, pitcher/outfielder Sarah Herndon, utility player Alayna Furr, catcher/outfielder Carly DiVirgilio, infielder Kelsey Lineberger, shortstop/outfielder Lauren Lewis and utility player Courtney Purtell. The seven players combined for numerous all-state honors and state titles at their respective high schools.

The Mountain Lions' 2014 schedule is made up of 27 non-conference games in addition to their 30-game MEC schedule against league members Fairmont State, Shepherd, UVa.-Wise, Notre Dame College, Urbana, Charleston, West Virginia State, Glenville State, West Virginia Wesleyan, West Liberty and Wheeling Jesuit.

After its opening series' this weekend, Concord is scheduled to take part in the UNC-Pembroke Invitational Feb. 7-9 with games against Francis Marion, Barton, Kutztown and UNC-Pembroke. Following a doubleheader at Virginia Intermont on Feb. 15, CU ends its opening month at the Shaw University Softball Challenged against Shaw, Elizabeth City, St. Augustine's, Slippery Rock and Bowie State.

Following its time at the Shaw Challenge, Concord will hold its 2014 home-opener March 4 vs. Carson-Newman before heading back on the road to take part in the Salem Invitational vs. Ohio Valley, Edinboro, Mansfield, IUP and California (PA) March 15-16. Before starting MEC play, the Mountain Lions will host Lees-McRae March 18 in doubleheader completion.

Concord closes out its season with a full conference slate of games with the only interruption being an April 8 home doubleheader vs. Virginia Intermont.