2011 Season in Review

Under Krasniqi, Panthers Keep Improving

Purchase, NY (May 5, 2011) – Purchase softball closed the season on a four-game win streak, flashing glimpses of a great future that lies ahead.

Under new head coach Albana Krasniqi, the Panthers finished two games under .500, but improved on last year’s record in the rookie coach’s first season. With only two seniors departing from this spring’s squad, 2012 has postseason written all over it.  

Purchase will return 12 of its 14 players next spring. Optimism is plentiful for the Panthers, especially with rookie standout Christine Leo in the fold. She hit a team-high .448 with 17 RBIs over 22 games. The first baseman dazzled in her rookie campaign, winning Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week in the final week of the season.

[Pictured above: JENNIE ANGELONE HAS ESTABLISHED HERSELF AS ONE OF THE BEST SHORTSTOPS IN THE LEAGUE.
-Photo by Oren Vourman]

Pitcher Lindsay Froman led the team in wins, finishing with a 6-4 record. She totaled 55 innings pitched and contributed at the plate with a .385 average. Fellow ace Erika Stahl notched five wins and pitched an impressive 81.2 innings. The workhorse struck out 52 batters over that span and will be sorely missed in the rotation as well fellow senior Veronica Slattery, who played well in the outfield in her first season of collegiate softball.  

Two-sport athlete Abigail Katz batted an impressive .420, with 19 RBIs, and eight stolen bases in 2011.  Fellow multi-sport athlete Alyse LaPadula, who plays three intercollegiate sports at Purchase, led the team with 22 RBI and hit .364. She provided the highlight of the spring – a dramatic two-out, game-tying home run against MSMC late in the season.

Catcher Alexis Vallario was solid behind the dish, posting a .986 fielding percentage, while committing only one error in 18 games.

Krasniqi has assembled a young athletic team full of promise. Purchase will also return standout shortstop Jennie Angelone, who was lost late in the season due to injury and was deeply missed in the field and at the plate, and fellow veterans Mariel Perez, Rachel Popovic, Jillian Lucas, Juliet-Rain Pagan, T’keyah Robinson and Danielle Johnson, all of which are expected to make significant contributions in 2012.

-Steve Miraglia and Bobby Ciafardini, SID