With spring on the doorstep, Geneseo’s softball team is preparing for yet another season. The team is coming off an 18-16 season, having lost both of the games they played in in the SUNYAC Tournament last year to SUNY Brockport and SUNY Oneonta.
The Knights are ranked fifth in this season’s SUNYAC preseason poll. Led by head coach David Sylvester, the Knights have a diverse mix of players from many sections of New York State. The Knights rose to the occasion at the end of last season, winning five of their last six regular season games.
This was coming off of a season where they were on the outside looking in at the SUNYAC Championship game. As a whole, Geneseo has been very successful––the Knights have advanced to the postseason 15 times in the past 16 seasons.
Sylvester was the Knights’ pitching coach for three seasons before becoming the interim head coach. He became the permanent head coach during that offseason. The team has built an 106-84 record—including a 54-36 record in the SUNYAC—with Sylvester on the coaching staff.
The Knights will also look for leadership from players like senior infielder Sami Brown to help continue the team’s success. A communication major from Canton, New York, Brown was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association East Region All-Star team as a second-team selection two years ago. She also earned a spot on the SUNYAC All-Academic team as a freshman and a sophomore. Last season, she led the Knights in batting average at .326.
Senior pitcher Corrin Spallone is another one of the team’s leaders. Spallone was fifth in the SUNYAC in earned run average last year en route to a record of 11-4. She was also fourth in the conference in strikeouts, racking up 79 in just 17 games.
The Knights were able to come back and split the two games against SUNY Cortland this past season after losing to the Red Dragons in the 2013 SUNYAC Tournament.
Geneseo has a dedicated and talented core group of players that should help accomplish the team’s ultimate goal of reaching—and winning—the SUNYAC Championship.
The Knights start off their season on March 15 against New England College in Clermont, Florida.