Stockton softball climbed back to the 10-win plateau last year with a 10-11 finish. This year, the Tigers will look to post the program’s first winning season since 2016 when the Tigers won a district title.
Two seniors return for Stockton in Abbie Flora and Madison Swaggerty.
“We have two seniors this year and our team will look to them for leadership. Abbie Flora will pitch for us and play the infield. Her performance in the pitcher’s circle will be important to our team this year. Madison Swaggerty will serve as utility fielder and designated player this year. Her performance in the batter’s box will be important for our team this year. Both of these players will be important to our team this year as they provide positive attitudes and a perpetual propensity toward improvement as teammates and softball players.”
Flora hit .288 with a .364 on-base percentage last year. She scored 19 runs and drove in 12 more. Swaggerty had a .362 on-base percentage with 17 runs scored and 16 RBI.
Flora will be joined by Kyndell Roy (junior) and Ellie Pettit (freshman) on the pitching staff. Flora is the only returning player who pitched last year. She threw 39.2 innings with 52 strikeouts.
That trio of pitchers will throw to a trio of catchers in Vella Crawford (junior), Ellie Flora (sophomore) and Frankie Underwood (freshman).
Abbie Flora, Madison Swaggerty, Vella Crawford, Kyndell Roy, Kamryn Roy, Ellie Flora, Abbie Kiley, Riley Graves, Ellie Pettit, Megan Lee, Nataleigh Brummet and Frankie Underwood will all see time on the infield.
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Kyndell Roy led all returning players with a .365 batting average last season. She also had 21 runs scored and 17 RBI. Ellie Flora hit .321 with a .387 on-base percentage including 19 runs scored and 13 driven in. Graves was on base 38.5% of the time with 22 runs scored and 18 RBI. Crawford scored 12 runs with a .288 on-base percentage. Kamryn Roy had a .339 on-base percentage with 13 RBI.
Madison Swaggerty, Vella Crawford, Riley Graves, Abbie Kiley, Ellie Pettit, Nataleigh Brummet, Megan Lee and Frankie Underwood are all candidates for innings in the outfield.
“One of the strengths of this team will need to be versatility. Each player has the physical ability to play multiple positions and we will have to have the mental ability to play multiple positions,” Stockton head coach Daniel Roberts said. “I believe we will just need to be consistent in our level of play this season. If we play the best we can each game the end result will be justifiable to the means.”
Stockton opens the season on Mar. 19 at the Strafford Tournament.
“Expectations for this season are to play to the best of our ability, be great teammates, improve each day and embrace the growth which comes from competition,” Roberts said.
