Lori Kwiatkowksi, Azusa Pacific’s second-year head coach, understands the make-up of the NAIA’s premier softball conference. She played 4 years for national power Point Loma Nazarene and now is a coach within the GSAC, earning her stripes while rebuilding Azusa Pacific into the national power that it was during the 1990s.
Her task at hand isn’t easy. The teaching and recruiting required to rebuild a program in any other conference must be doubled in effort in the GSAC, but Kwiatkowski believes she is up to the challenge.
A seasoned veteran of the softball circles in Southern California, Kwiatkowski immediately went to work following her 2006 rookie season and delved into a world she understands well – travel ball. She has come out with one of the best recruiting classes in program history and certainly the top one in recent years.
Azusa Pacific returns 7 players from last year’s 26-22 team, including 4 senior starters. In addition, a pair of veterans who sat out the 2006 season is back. Now Kwiatkowski adds 5 newcomers, all with sterling credentials, to bolster a team that expects to return to the postseason after a 2-year absence.
The Cougars won’t be a favorite at the outset of the season. In fact, they might not be on anyone’s radar. Indeed, they are young, particularly in the pitcher’s circle, and they are going to have to prove themselves in a hurry.
“I like the fact that we’re not high on anyone’s list in terms of the GSAC,” said Kwaitkowski, “that is the place to be for a young team.”
Along with an impressive recruiting class, Azusa Pacific features a 2007 squad that is likely to be much more powerful at the plate and feature a veteran outfield with a trio of seniors, all of whom have been starters the past 2 seasons.
High on the list of Cougar returnees are NAIA all-region honorees, Lori Shimasaki and Tami Carter, a pair of seniors who last year batted over .360 combined while stealing 37 bases. Shimasaki, the anchor of the Cougar outfield, is perhaps the fastest player in the GSAC, a centerfielder who collected 3 home runs last year, all of the inside-the-park variety, while batting .361. She stole a team-high 23 bases and went on to earn NAIA All-America honorable mention recognition for her play.
Carter is a hard-hitting and fundamentally sound second-baseman who has appeared in 125 games in her collegiate career. She batted .366 as a 2006 junior with a team-high 4 home runs and 10 doubles.
Together they form the backbone of an offense that should be vastly improved over last year’s attack that batted only .237 at a team in GSAC play while averaging just under 3 runs a game.
“Our line-up is dramatically different from last year,” said Kwiatkowski. “The power hitting aspect is the big difference, and it’s not just in our newcomers. The seniors put in the time during the off-season to improve their strength.”
The poster-player for improved strength is senior right fielder Courtney Cleaves, a career .300 hitter who has 21 doubles in her 3 seasons as a Cougar. Cleaves’ off-season regiment is expected to pay dividends in the terms of extra-base hits to the power alleys.
Sophomore catcher Natalie Mickelson and her explosive back are welcomed back with open arms. After cranking out a team-leading 11 home runs as a 2005 freshman (third best season-total in program history), Mickelson and her cannon arm were unavailable for duty last year because of shoulder surgery. Now back at full strength, Mickelson is expected to anchor a young pitching staff while playing a lead role in what should be one of the better offenses in the GSAC.
Freshman Tierney Burk comes out of the tradition-rich program at Clovis (Calif.) High and is expected to have an immediate impact on the college level, perhaps in a similar fashion to Mickelson’s freshman campaign. An outfielder by trade, Burk’s bat is so strong that she is moving to first base since cracking the Cougar outfielder will be difficult.
“I’m excited about what we present to opponents in our 3-4-5 hitters,” said Kwiatkowski. “Having Natalie’s bat back in the line-up combined with the power that Tierney brings will only make Tami that much more powerful as well. It’ll be more difficult to pitch around our players this year, particularly in the heart of the line-up.”
The combination of Carter, Mickelson and Burk offers Azusa Pacific a potent set of fence-reaching bats in the middle of the line-up. Toss in speed burners Shimasaki and Cleaves at the top of the line-up, and the Cougars have the making for an offense that can manufacture runs by the increment or score them in bunches.
Senior Justine Barnett rounds out the most experienced outfield in the GSAC. The trio of Barnett, Shimasaki and Cleaves have started over 80 games together the past 2 seasons, and combined they have over 380 games worth of collegiate experience. Like her colleagues, Barnett is quite fast (second on the team last year with 14 stolen bases) and teams with Shimasaki to track down most balls hit to the left side.
Other than Carter at second base, the Cougar infield is completely rebuilt with 3 new starters. The rookie Burk is likely to step in at first base. On the left side of the infield, Jessi Besseghini (formerly Boicelli) returns to the Cougars after taking off last year to study abroad. She is contending for the starting berth at third base while Samford transfer Bethany Weisser is the leading candidate for the starting berth at shortstop.
In the pitcher’s circle, the Cougars are as young as they have been in several years. Only Camille Hundley has college experience. The sophomore hurler is coming off a fine 2006 freshman season in which she went 8-9 in over 100 innings of work. Freshmen Erin Halma and Bre Anderson will have to step to the forefront from the opening pitch of the season. Halma is a fundamentally sound player with an assortment of pitches that move. She is expected to get stronger as the season unfolds. Anderson is a junk-baller who could enjoy unique success in the GSAC because of her pitching repertoire.
“We have 3 pitchers contending for the No. 1 spot,” said Kwiatkowski, “and all 3 have different assets. They are all mentally mature, which given their relative collegiate inexperience, is a real plus. I think we’ll have 3 different ways to come at opponents.”
Returning sophomores Erika Navarrete and Bailey Blazek, both outfielders by trade, are key reserves for the Cougars. Navarrete is coming off an outstanding fall and, despite a deep and talented Cougar outfield, may see time in the line-up because of her improved bat. Blazek is the ultimate utility player and can back up several infield positions as well. Freshman Chelsey Broermann rounds out the 14-player Cougar roster as a reserve catcher and third baseman.
Only 44 games make up the 2007 Azusa Pacific schedule, one of the smaller slates in program history. However, Kwiatkowski is hopeful that the Cougars will add to the scheduled docket with several postseason games, though the press for a postseason berth will be challenging.
“Last year the GSAC had 3 of the NAIA’s top 6 teams, and I think the conference is even more competitive this year,” said Kwiatkowski. “We possibly could get 4 teams into the NAIA Tournament, and the battle for that fourth team will come down to the wire.”
Whether Azusa Pacific is the first or fourth team is not the issue at the outset of the season for Kwiatkowski. She just wants her Cougars in the playoffs, and she is primed for the battle.
