The SUNY Corning Red Barons softball team is ready to come out of hibernation, looking forward to hitting the field once again on March 21 as they host SUNY Adirondack CC in their first game since the March 2020 halt due to COVID-19.
The Red Barons boast a 17-player roster that displays depth at every position. That depth begins on the mound. Emily McCreery (Monticello, NY) and Jayden Hill (Geneva, NY) will be relied on to carry a large portion of the load. Both hurlers have the ability and mound presence to control a game. Grace Vondracek (Odessa, NY) and Siobhan Stone will see innings and also have the potential to be very effective. Battery-mates Hailey Burdick (Elmira Heights, NY), Faith Rodriguez (Bronx, NY) and Christina Willsey (Elmira Heights, NY) will share duties behind the dish and all have the ability to keep potential baserunners wisely cautious.
Defensively, the Red Barons have many options as well. Lexi Wood (Elmira, NY), Alexus Lewis (Horseheads, NY), Katelynn Kersch (Warsaw, NY), Ryleigh Carson (Elmira Heights, NY), McCreery and Hill look to anchor down the corners. Jill Murray (Horseheads, NY), Vondracek, Gabby Stalter (Corning, NY), Becca Velasco (Bergen, NY), and Willsey will roam the middle infield and all display tremendous athleticism, range and arm strength.
Patroling the outfield will be speedsters Jodie Burdick (Elmira Heights, NY) and Kiki Grover (Elmira, NY) as well as Rodriguez, Stone, Vondracek, Alyssa Steinhauer (Elmira Heights, NY), Carson and Willsey.
Head Coach Stacy Johnson, entering her 23rd season, is very optimistic about this season. "Things will look a little different this season from the COVID-19 perspective of keeping our student athletes and the community safe, but softball is softball. If we have taken anything away from this 11-month pandemic it should be to appreciate the little things as we realign our perspectives on life. Just having the opportunity to hit the field this March has rejuvenated these young people, and me to be honest. Practice with masks is different, but we are practicing! I am extremely optimistic about this year's squad. We are deep at every spot on the field, and we have a battery unlike any other we have had before. When you add stingy pitchers to the defense we have, we will be in every game. To complete the triple threat, our lineup card will produce runs. We are a balanced mix of power, base-hit hitters and we have more speed top to bottom than we have had in the past few seasons. This team should be very fun to watch. The pieces are all there, it is now up to us to use them effectively and consistently. The energy and effort has been outstanding thus far. We are competing with ourselves and not others; a key component to becoming a group that puts team goals before individual ones. I have very high expectations of this squad."