Last season saw the Valparaiso University softball team put together a run for the ages, culminating with the program earning its third Horizon League Championship in the last five seasons.  Seven starters from that team return in 2017 for the Crusaders, who open the season this weekend in North Carolina. But Team 35 is also a youthful squad, as nine of Valpo’s 19 players are in their first season with the Crusader program.

The Infield

The Crusaders return their starters all around the infield and behind the plate from last season’s championship squad.

Anchoring the defense is the reigning Horizon League Championship MVP, senior Sam Stewart. Stewart, who caught every inning of the Crusaders’ tournament win last season, is expected to be the starter at catcher again this year for Valpo. Last season, Stewart hit .270 with seven home runs and 33 RBIs and ranked second on the team with a .504 slugging percentage.

Junior Jenna Stauffenberg will see action at catcher again as well, coming off a 2016 campaign where she started 17 games behind the plate. Freshman Hannah Dybalski will also be in the mix for catching duties.

Juniors Brenna Boyle and Jasmine Ramirez both return after splitting time at first base last season. Boyle started 25 games at first, while Ramirez started there 21 times. The duo combined for just two errors defensively over their 46 starts. Freshman Taylor Bowman could also see time at first base.

Sophomore Carly Trepanier was the breakout star for the Crusaders in 2016, earning Second Team All-League and All-Newcomer Team honors. Trepanier became Valpo’s regular starter at second base early in the season and never looked back, leading the team with a .331 batting average and raising her average to .403 in Horizon League play. Freshman Gabby Magnifico has the potential to see action at second base as well.

Junior Stephanie Moreno has started every game for the Crusaders at shortstop over her first two years in a Valpo uniform, hitting .267 with 25 runs scored last season as a sophomore. Sophomore Jaymee Lawton, who transferred to Valpo in the offseason from Utah Valley, could challenge Moreno for time at shortstop as well this season.

Three-year starter Jorgi Calombaris moved back to third base – where she was a regular as a freshman – early last season and stood out defensively at the hot corner, committing just two errors. The Crusaders also enjoy versatility defensively on the infield, as if Trepanier is needed to play shortstop, Calombaris could revert back to second base and Stewart could fill in at third base – where she has made 27 career starts.

The Outfield

Valpo’s strength up the middle continues into the outfield, as three-year starter Taylor Lawson is slated to start in center field for the 139th straight game to open the 2017 campaign. Lawson hit .320 within Horizon League play last season and stole 23 bases overall while being thrown out just once on the year. She enters her final season third in program history in career steals, while defensively, she has tallied 21 career outfield assists.

Junior Lanie Callaghan capped her 2016 season by being named the Batting Champion of the Horizon League Championship, going 5-of-11 at the plate with four runs scored and seven RBIs as the Crusaders captured the title. Overall last season, Callaghan made 37 starts in the outfield, hitting .274 with 14 runs scored and 16 RBIs.

A number of freshmen are also in the mix for time in the outfield as well. Dybalski and Magnifico have the flexibility to play outfield in addition to catcher and infield, respectively, while fellow rookies Morgan Matalin and Addison Pixley also could battle for playing time.

The Pitching

While the Crusaders return all but two starters among their position players from last season’s squad, the pitching staff will have a revamped look in 2017, as Valpo returns just 12% of its inning pitched from last year’s team.

The lone returnee on the pitching staff entering the 2017 campaign is junior Ashlyn Montgomery, who came up big down the stretch run of the regular season and into the Horizon League Championship. Montgomery overcame a rough start to the year to post a 2.15 ERA in eight appearances in Horizon League play, including a crucial victory in a start against Oakland, and then earned the victory in extra innings of the title game of the league tournament.

Montgomery is not the only pitcher with collegiate experience on this year’s roster, however. Junior Mackenzie Grossmann joins the Crusader program this year as a transfer from Morehead State, where she posted 21 wins and a 3.02 ERA in 60 appearances over two seasons, striking out 200 batters in 289.1 innings of work. Freshmen Emily Richardson and Lindsay Zdroik round out the pitching staff for the Crusaders.

The Schedule

As is the norm for northern schools, the Crusaders will get plenty of time for bonding on the road to start the year, as the opening month of the year sees Valpo travel to tournaments in Greensboro, N.C., Nashville, Tenn., Oxford, Ala., and Iowa City, Iowa. The Crusaders also make a side trip between tournaments as well to face off with perennial national title contender Alabama.

When they return to the Midwest, a non-league game at Loyola and the opening Horizon League series at Northern Kentucky are on the docket before Valpo finally opens the home slate with a non-league game Mar. 29 versus IUPUI. Within league play, Valpo will host Youngstown State, UIC, Oakland and Wright State for three-game series, while traveling to take on Green Bay, Cleveland State and Detroit Mercy. The Horizon League Championship will be contested May 10-13 at the home of the regular season champion.