WEBSTER GROVES – Webster University is set to open its 2019 softball campaign this weekend as the Gorloks open its 23rd season of competition with four games over a span of two days in Memphis, Tenn., against both Rhodes College and Maryville College.
 
The Gorloks, who were tabbed to finish fifth in the Preseason St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coaches' Poll, opens the season with a 10 a.m. game on Saturday, Feb. 16 against Maryville College and a 12 p.m. game that same day against Rhodes College, before playing on Sunday, Feb. 17 against the same two teams at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. respectively.
 
"We are really excited to get outside and see competition this weekend after being able to only practice outside once since preseason workouts began," Webster interim head coach Katie Griffith said. "I am kind of going into this season blind, as I really didn't know my players on the field until a few days ago and certainly don't know any of the players or teams we're playing against, but I really think our players are doing everything they can do to be ready for the season."
 
Like Webster, Maryville comes into this weekend's action playing their first games of the season as the Scots were picked to finish first in the USA South Conference West Division poll after finishing as runners-up at the Atlanta Regional hosted by Emory last season and claiming the USA South Conference Tournament title, while Rhodes is already 5-1 on the season with the only losses being a 3-0 setback at home last weekend to Huntingdon College. The Lynx went 23-16 a season ago and advanced to the championship game of the Southern Athletic Association Tournament before falling 10-1 to Berry (Ga.) College.
 
Griffith, who was hired as Webster's interim coach in early January, has only been on campus about a month, but in that time, she has seen a lot to like about her team and she expects it to surprise people this season.
 
"I think Webster University is going to be pleasantly surprised with its softball team this season," said Griffith, who played softball collegiately as a pitcher at the University of Georgia from 2004-06. "I think this team will surprise a lot of people on the field when we show up."
 
Griffith's first Gorlok team is a mixture of experience and newness as the Gorloks return five starters and eight letterwinners from last season's 18-17 team that finished fourth in the SLIAC and went 1-2 in the SLIAC Tournament, and have added 13 newcomers, including four junior college transfers and nine freshmen.
 
Among the key returners for the Gorloks are junior utility player Abby Burroughs (Edwardsville, Ill./Triad), senior third baseman Brienna Sheperd (Central Point, Ore./College of the Redwoods), senior second baseman Chelsea Snyder (Mount Vernon, Mo./Fort Scott CC), sophomore outfielder Skiela Martinez (Whittier, Calif./California) and junior pitcher Kaitlyn Johnson (East Alton, Ill./Greenville University). In fact, Johnson is the team's only returning pitcher as the team's other two pitchers from last season were seniors and graduated.
 
Burroughs is by far the most experienced player on the team as the two-time Second-Team All-SLIAC performer is the only Gorlok that has played here for more than one season. As a sophomore last season, Burroughs, who played primarily in center field, hit .309 with 34 hits, 23 runs scored, six doubles, three home runs and 22 RBI and enters the season tied for ninth on the school's all-time list in home runs (10), 10th in career runs scored (64), 13th in career RBI (59) and 15th in career hits (91).
 
"Abby has been really great. She works hard and is a quiet leader, showing up and working hard and leading by example," Griffith said about Burroughs. "She played a lot of outfield last year and we've been moving players around a bit and she is getting some reps at shortstop, as well. We definitely want her bat in the line-up."
 
Sheperd hit .291 a season ago with 30 hits, 17 runs scored, six doubles, one home run, 13 RBI and struck out just 10 times in 103 at-bats.
 
"Brie is an anchor on the infield for us, fielding her position and we've been working on bunt coverages, of which she is a big part of. We will have her take over a lot of leadership roles in bunt coverages, any pick off plays to third," Griffith said about Sheperd. "She is looking really good and is another bat we want in the line-up. I know she will be a leader for our girls in the infield."
 
Griffith said that the returners, especially the team's three seniors have really stepped up and become leaders this season.
 
"The returners have been great, especially our three seniors. Before things got started, they (the seniors) came in and talked with me and asked what they could do as leaders and they've really stepped," said the Webster coach. "I am here now to lead, but I want leaders on the field and they've really stepped up."
 
In addition to Sheperd and Snyder, the team's third senior is catcher Casey Cullinane (Simi Valley, Calif./College of the Redwoods). As a junior last season, Cullinane, hit .205 in 21 games and recorded eight hits and five RBI.
 
Snyder, who played second base last season, rarely batted a season ago as she had just 13 at-bats in 20 games, but played because of her defense as she had just two errors 68 fielding chances, while Martinez, who battled injuries throughout the season, hit just .169 in 29 games as she had 11 hits, scored 11 runs and had 10 RBI.
 
While Griffith has seen leadership from her seniors and her other returners, she has also been impressed with her newcomers and how they stepped up as well.
 
"We have a lot of transfers that have come in and they've played collegiate softball, just not here and those four girls have really stepped up. I am also proud of our freshmen. It seems like that everyone is working together, showing up on time, pushing each other to be better and that is a great quality to have – leadership across the board."
 
Since Griffith didn't have a fall season to learn about her team, her preseason practices have been used to help her learn about her players and her team.
 
"Things have been going well so far. The first day of practice, I was still learning our player's names. It has been quite a learning curve since day one," added Griffith. "Our practices have been really efficient and I'm happy with amount of instruction and reps were getting in in our allowed practice time with the constraints of being indoors."
 
One the biggest challenges for Griffith and her team has been their inability to get outside but just one time heading into this weekend's season opening games thanks to the cold and wet weather that has hit the St. Louis area.
 
"That outdoor practice was great for us. We were able to go outside at GCS Credit Union Ballpark where baseball plays and our players were excited to finally be outside," Griffith added. "It was important for our outfielders to field fly balls in real space without worrying about the ceiling. We got to work a lot on communication between the infield and outfield, which is hard to replicate indoors, as well, without the full space. We also did some base running." 
 
Johnson, who is the team's only returning pitcher from a season ago, went 3-5 with a 3.47 ERA. She made 17 appearances, 11 starts and tossed three complete games. In 70.2 innings, Johnson recorded 34 strikeouts and 30 walks.
 
"Kaitlyn is our lone returning pitcher and she is looking good. We are working on helping her be a little more sharp to the strike zone and that is something I have been working on with all four of our pitchers," said Griffith.
 
Johnson will be one of four pitchers that Griffith will be relying upon this season. The other three pitchers are first year players – junior transfer Breelyn Craig (Victorville, Calif./Trinidad State), junior transfer Tori Lonsdale (Belleville, Ill./Southwestern Illinois) and freshman Arianna Arias (Pomona, Calif./Bishop Amat).
 
"I have been very upfront with our pitchers. We have four pitchers and I want a four person pitching rotation, if they can show me what I'm looking for. They all know the things I am looking for – throw strikes, get ahead of batters and have a change-up or an off-speed pitch you can throw on any count," said Griffith, who won 36 games, recorded 389 strikeouts and tossed 33 complete games in her three-year career as a Georgia Bulldog. "When you have those things, you can get batters off on timing and that will allow for more mishit balls than solid hit balls, so that in return, helps our defense as they aren't taking so many hard shots. If we can minimize and produce some weak contact that will help our defense a lot."
 
Griffith said that a four person pitching rotation is important because you can keep everyone fresh and give them the experience of high pressure situations.
 
"We are going to try and keep shoulders and bodies healthy. Ideally, we have four pitchers that we can count on, on any day and I think that is the best way to get through a season," the Webster coach stated. "Everyone gets experience in high pressure situations, everyone stays healthy and then at the end of the season when we get into postseason games, everyone is used to it, everyone feels good and we're not just wearing out one pitcher."
 
Among some key newcomers that are expected to make an impact this season for the Gorloks are junior first baseman Avery Boccella (Gilbert, Ariz./Trinidad State), freshman shortstop Andrea Stephens (New Berlin, Wis./New Berlin West), junior catcher Darian Morlan (Duchesne, Utah/Trinidad State) and freshman catcher Sheyla Iniguez (Riverside, Calif./Bloomington).
 
"I have been very impressed with Avery, who is one of our junior transfers, at first base. She knows how to run the infield, has great footwork, is vocal, is a leader and we need her bat in the line-up," Griffith added. "She also has really good feet in the in the outfield, so there could be a possibility she appears in the outfield sometimes. Her foot work is amazing and can really cover some ground in the outfield."
 
While the right side of the infield looks to solid this season with Boccella at first and returner Snyder at second, Griffith is trying to shore up the shortstop position that saw last year's starter, Second-Team All-SLIAC performer Taylor White, transfer during the offseason to Westminster (Mo.) College. White hit .319 a season ago and led the team in runs scored (32) and was 24-for-26 on stolen bases.
 
"Shortstop is a work in progress as we have a few people working over there," the Webster coach added. "Abby (Burroughs) is getting some reps there, (freshman) Andrea Stephens is getting reps there and we have two catchers who are very athletic, Sheyla (Iniquez) and Darian (Morlan), so they have been getting some reps on the left side of the infield, as well, for maybe potentially when they aren't catching. Both are very vocal and have a good softball IQ, so I can see both of them making an appearance on the left side, either at short or at third if we want to give Brie a break."
 
While Cullinane is the team's top returning catcher from a season ago, the Gorloks roster currently lists four catchers and that has made it easy in workouts since the Gorloks also have four pitchers this season.
 
"We have four catchers on our team and it's worked out amazingly for us during practices as we have four pitchers," added Griffith. "Casey is a returning player and is going to be behind the dish a lot and then we have Darian, who is a junior transfer and Sheyla, who is a freshman. All three of them are good leaders from behind the plate and they like to be vocal, like to make decisions and I want them to make decisions."
 
While the team's infield returns two starters from a season ago, the outfield welcomes back all three starters from last season, but Griffith says the outfield might not look the same as last year in terms of positions. The three returning outfielder starters are Martinez in left, Burroughs in center and sophomore Amanda Kraus (Valley Park, Mo./Valley Park) in right.
 
"Our outfield definitely has the most returners from last season, but we are going to mix things up a little bit so it might not look the same as last year," Griffith said.
 
The Webster coach said she that one player that has really impressed her in the outfield during preseason workouts has been Arias, who is one of the team's four pitchers. Arias is expected to see a lot of action in the outfield when she doesn't pitch.
 
"Ari has really impressed me in the outfield. She covers a lot of ground, has a great feet, so I can see her being in the game a lot when not pitching," the Webster coach added.
 
As the Gorloks prepare to open the season, Griffith said that several keys for her team this season will be to get the leadoff batter out every inning, score first and hold their opponents to zero runs every time we score.
 
"If we get the leadoff batter out every inning, score first and hold our opponent without a run every time we score, we are going to be in really good shape and that is where we are going to start and then we'll get more intricate after that," Griffith said.
 
Griffith, who make her collegiate coaching debut on Saturday against Maryville, says that she would like learn and see how mentally tough her team is this coming weekend.
 
"I want to see how mentally tough we are. I have been very impressed with how sharp everyone has looked with ground balls and with smart play calling and base running and looking to the second play and back picking, things like that are looking very sharp," Griffith said. "It is my dream scenario that we get into high pressure situation with a 0-0 ball game and a runner on third and it all stays the same, but that is what I'm waiting to see."
 
Following the first weekend of games in Memphis, Webster will play a single game on Sunday, March 3 at WashU, before traveling to Florida to play eight games in span of five days at the PFX 2019 Spring Games in both Clermont, Fla., and Kissimmee, Fla.
 
"The Florida trip will be fun for us to play some different schools that we normally wouldn't play and will allow us to play some good competition and come back and be ready to rock against Greenville that first weekend of conference play," added the Webster coach.