2005 TITAN SOFTBALL
SEASON PREVIEW Depth Key to Cal State Fullerton's Success
in 2005 Feb. 1, 2005 – Fullerton, Calif.
The phrase “strength in numbers” will have extra-special meaning
when talking about the Cal State Fullerton softball team this season.
With 19 players on the roster entering the 2005 campaign, the Titans will
field the deepest roster in Head Coach Michelle Gromacki’s tenure
and the largest roster that the program has seen in eight years since
the 1998 squad took the field with 20 players to open the season.
“Our depth is defiinitely one of our strengths,” Gromacki
said. “We come into this season wtih a lot of young talent and team
players. We have many versAtile players and that always helps.”
As horrible as it sounds, Cal State Fullerton will need all the help it
can get after the Titans, who had won four consecutive league titles entering
last season, posted the first-ever losing season (18-34 overall, 7-14
in the Big West Conference) in the history of the program.
“I feel that there is such a valuable experience to take from losing,”
Gromacki said. “We did the best we could to relay the message of
its value instead of dwelling on losing. As far as rebounding... we have
such a young and vibrant nucleus this year that we like to think of it
as reestablishing instead of rebounding.”
Now, Gromacki will continue rebuilding her squad into a national contender
with depth never before seen on a Titan squad. Cal State Fullerton welcomes
12 newcomers to the roster to supplement a squad that features seven returning
letterwinners and only two seniors.
“Many have the opportunity in making an immediate impact, actually,
I’m relying upon it,” Gromacki said. “Amanda Kamekona,
Katie Gollhardt, and Crystal Vieyra were all highly-recruited and should
make an immediate impact.”
Fullerton will be bolstered by the fact that it returns five starting
position players and both starting pitchers from last season’s squad
who come in a little wiser after rough and tumble rookie seasons.
FROM THE CIRCLE A little stronger, a little wiser, and a whole lot deeper. That
aptly describes the Cal State Fullerton pitching staff entering the 2005
season as the Titans return both starters from last year’s squad
and add three more hurlers to the depth chart.
“The staff is shaping up very well. We have worked very hard in
the fall, and the pitchers have made a tremendous amount of progress,”
third-year pitching coach Dee Dee Weiman said. “We have done a lot
of game type situations in the fall which I think will be very helpful
in the spring.
“Also, I am excited about the depth of our staff, and we really
made an effort to recruit more of a ‘staff’ for this year.
With the regionals set up being a little different, and problems with
injuries, we decided to go with a larger staff.”
Sophomore Brooke Weekley (Mission Viejo, Calif.) was the workhorse of
the staff last season, leading the conference in innings pitched while
compiling a 14-18 overall record and a 2.94 ERA.
Opponents hit just .243 against her as she also led the league in appearances
and starts.
“Brooke is very hard working, and very coachable,” Weiman
said. “She had to take on the brunt of our duties last year, and
learned a lot from her experiences. She has gotten bigger and stronger
in the off season, and should have a lot more speed and movement this
year. She will only get better and better as she gets older.”
Sophomore Candice Baker (Buena Park, Calif.) was inducted into the rigors
of Division I softball rather rudely. However, considering that 11 of
her 20 decisions came against nationally-ranked or receiving votes teams,
she performed admirably before an ankle injury kept her from the circle
in the latter part of the season.
Baker was just 4-16 overall with a 4.44 ERA and struggled with bouts of
wildness (35 wild pitches and 16 hit batters) while adjusting to the collegiate
pitching distance.
“Candice is just so incredibly talented,” Weiman said. “She
needed a year under her belt to get comfortable at this level (in the
circle) and has had a phenomenal fall season. She is throwing the ball
very hard, with much better control, and has picked up a few pitches which
gives her a lot more to work with.
In the wings will be three talented newcomers who will all battle for
starting time.
Highly-regarded redshirt junior Marissa Marzan (Fresno, Calif.) has actually
been a student at Cal State Fullerton for the last two seasons, but she
was forced to sit out her first year after transferring from Arizona and
last season due to a knee injury suffered during fall practice.
Now, completely recovered, Marzan will finally get a chance to shine at
the Division I level after redshirting her true freshman season with the
Wildcats. Marzan was a two-time NFCA high school All-American at Bullard
HS in California’s Central Valley, helping the Knights to a pair
of mythical USA Today High School National Championships in 1999 and 2001.
Junior Sara Gonzales (Lancaster, Calif.) joins the Titans from Weiman’s
old stomping grounds, the University of Wisconsin. Gonzales played two
seasons for the Badgers, going 3-2 with a 1.97 ERA as a sophomore in 2004.
Freshman Dana Crucil (Orange, Calif.) played four seasons at El Modena
HS, helping the Vanguards to the CIF finals as a freshman and sophomore.
She was a second-team All-CIF honoree as a senior, hitting .390 and going
15-7 in the circle.
BEHIND THE DISH One of the good things about the 2004 season was that a very
young pitching staff was guided by a very experienced catcher in the now-departed
Jennifer Holt.
This season, the Titans will not have that luxury as three newcomers will
don the gear and call the game.
Junior transfer Ashlee Weatherford (Woodland, Calif.) is the most experienced
after spending her sophomore year at Solano College in northern California
and her freshman campaign at Providence College in Rhode Island.
Weatherford hit .431 for the Falcons last season with 32 runs scored and
34 RBI, finishing in the top 25 among northern California community college
players in average.
She started all 53 games with the Friars as a freshman, hitting .228 with
a home run and 16 RBI.
A pair of freshmen will also battle for playing time with Katie Gollhardt
(Glendora, Calif.) and Ariana “Kiki” Munoz (Orange, Calif.).
Gollhardt played four seasons at Bishop Amat HS as an infielder and catcher,
earning three All-CIF awards in her career.
Munoz helped El Modena HS to CIF runner-up finishes as a freshman and
sophomore, earned three All-Century League awards and second-team CIF
honors as a senior after hitting .419 at the plate.
ON THE INFIELD Continuing the theme of depth, the Titans are deep at all four
positions on the infield, but are also very young. Of the nine players
listed as infielders or utility players – six of those are underclassmen,
and half of those are freshmen.
Leading the returnees is sophomore All-Big West Conference Honorable Mention
selection Jenna Wheeler (Anaheim, Calif.), who hit .227 overall on the
year, but exploded in league play by hitting .305 with three home runs
and 14 RBI. She started all 52 games for the Titans at second base.
However, her status for the season is unknown after suffering an off-season
concussion that may keep her sidelined.
Sophomore Tiffany Hoff (Vacaville, Calif.) returns for her second year
after splitting time as the Titans’ starting designated player and
first baseman as a freshman in 2004. Hoff started 48 of the Titans’
52 games, hitting .217 with four home runs and 11 RBI.
Baker will split time between the circle and the infield, where she started
30 games as the shortstop when she wasn’t pitching. She finished
third on the team last season with a .252 average to go with three home
runs and second with 24 RBI. She led the team with 13 doubles and finished
second with six stolen bases.
Also pulling double duty in the circle and on the infield will be Marzan,
who was also an accomplished hitter in high school.
Another Central Valley product, junior Crystal Medina (Visalia, Calif.),
will also be ready to step in as both a defensive substitution and a pinch
runner.
Three newcomers will battle for playing time as freshmen Amanda Kamekona
(Chino Hills, Calif.) and Crystal Vieyra (Stanton, Calif.) join Cypress
College transfer Molly Perez.
Kamekona played only one season of softball as a senior, but spent two
years on the baseball team at Ayala HS as a freshman and sophomore.
Vieyra joins the Titans from perennial powerhouse Pacifica HS in Garden
Grove, Calif., where she was an NFCA All-West Region high school selection
as a senior after hitting .313 with 26 runs scored. She helped the Mariners
to a pair of CIF and state titles as a junior and senior.
Perez helped the Chargers to a 43-4 overall record last season after spending
her freshman year at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey.
IN THE OUTFIELD Fullerton will have a good mix of experience in the outfield,
but it is probably the thinnest position for the Titans in 2005.
The corps is led by senior Lindsey Bashor (Riverside, Calif.), who did
it with both her bat and her arm last season.
Bashor, a second-team All-Big West selection in her first year with the
Titans, hit .277 with nine home runs and 27 RBI while also racking up
11 outfield assists.
The other Titan senior is Monica Tantlinger (Lancaster, Calif.), who started
all 52 games for Fullerton, but hit just .167.
The outfield will be bolstered by sophomore transfer Ashley Van Boxmeer
(Orange, Calif.), who was an NFCA All-West Region selection as a freshman
at New Mexico in 2003. Van Boxmeer hit .349 with 10 home runs and 32 RBI
as a rookie.
“Ashley will be relied upon heavily this season because she brings
power along with some experience at the Division I level,” Gromacki
said.
Freshmen Erin Atherton (Lake Elsinore, Calif.) and Whitney Kroh (Fullerton,
Calif.) will also battle for time in the outfield.
Atherton, a “Titan” from Temescal Canyon HS, helped her school
to a Southwestern League title as a senior, hitting .265 on the year while
playing the outfield and second base.
Kroh, from nearby Fullerton Union HS, played four seasons as a middle
infielder for the Indians, earning a pair of All-Freeway League honors.
THE SCHEDULE The young Cal State Fullerton squad will be immediately thrown
into the fire, facing top-ranked and defending national champion UCLA
twice along with top-10 foe Georgia at the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament
to kick off the season.
The UCLA tournament will be the first of three preseason events away from
home in February as the Titans also travel to Tempe, Ariz., for the Kajikawa
Tournament hosted by Arizona State, and to Cathedral City, Calif., for
the 2005 Palm Springs Classic hosted by Oregon State.
Fullerton, which was picked to finish fifth in the Big West Conference
by the league’s coaches in January, then returns home to host a
pair of tournaments as nine teams come to the Titan Softball Complex for
the 2005 Worth Invitational.
Pacific, Nevada, Illinois State, Boston College, Bowling Green, Northwestern,
and Minnesota join Pacific-10 Conference rivals Stanford and Oregon State.
After non-conference contests against San Diego State and Syracuse, the
Titans host 15 teams in perhaps the top spring tournament in the country
– the Kia Klassic (Mar. 16-20).
Fullerton will meet North Carolina, Michigan, and Fresno State in a revamped
tournament format before bracket play begins on March 19.
Non-conference contests against Washington, Ohio State, UCLA and future
conference rival UC Davis loom following the Kia while the Big West slate
opens on the road at UC Santa Barbara on Mar. 25-26.
