Softball Ready To Kickoff 2018 Season

Earlier this month, Jaspers Briana Matazinsky (Valley Falls, NY / Tamarac), Shannon Puthe (Mullica Hill, NJ / Saint Joseph's), and Lauren Pitney (Ansonia, CT / St. Joseph's) were named to the preseason all-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) team. Based on a vote by the leagues' 11 head coaches, the preseason all-MAAC team is comprised of four infielders, three outfielders, two pitchers, a catcher, a utility player, and a designated player. Manhattan and Iona tied with a league-high three student-athletes on the team.

Matazinsky, a 2016 and 2017 first team all-MAAC selection, was chosen as the league's best preseason utility player. A senior, Matazinsky also earned all-MAAC second team honors last year as a pitcher and was named to the 2017 all-MAAC tournament team. Last season, she started 53 games, 23 at pitcher, 16 in right field, and 14 as the designated player. Matazinsky ranked third in the MAAC in wins (15) and ERA (2.09). A team captain, she put together a .268 batting average and tied for second on the squad with nine doubles.

Puthe, also a senior, was one of three outfielders recognized by the conference. No stranger to league honors, she was named to the all-MAAC second team last year, and the all-MAAC first team in 2016. Puthe started and batted leadoff in all 55 games last season, and tied the single-season program record with 27 stolen bases, which ranked first in the MAAC. She also paced the league in triples (7) and runs scored (50), and led the Jaspers with 54 hits. 

A second baseman, junior Pitney was recognized as one of the MAAC's four-best infielders. As a sophomore, Pitney started every game and led the Jaspers in batting average (.324), home runs (7) and RBIs (37), while ranking second in the MAAC with a .476 on base percentage. She was named to the 2017 all-MAAC first team and all-MAAC tournament team. 

Head Coach Tom Pardalis, entering his ninth year, is encouraged by his team's collective talent. In addition to the all-MAAC trio, Manhattan boasts eight more juniors and seniors who all come into this season with a wealth of experience. That experience will be bolstered by incoming new talent, such as freshmen Gabriella Fredette (Hackensack, NJ / Immaculate Conception), Daniela Chiorazzi (Stony Point, NY / North Rockland), Emma Kindblom (Wilbraham, MA / Wilbraham & Monson Academy), and Victoria Alonso (Stony Point, NY / North Rockland). Adriana Gambino (Stamford, CT / Westhill), a red-shirt freshman this season, also rounds out the Manhattan roster. 

Manhattan was picked to finish fifth in the MAAC's preseason poll. The Jaspers finished the 2017 season 34-21 overall and 13-7 in the league, while making it to the third day of the 2017 MAAC tournament, losing to Marist 5-4. The Jaspers will begin their home schedule on March 6 when they take on Hartford in a double-header starting at 1 p.m. at Gaelic Park.