The North Platte Community College Knights softball team comes into the spring 2015 season with optimism and high goals.  Knights Head Coach Janelle Higgins, who is in her fifth season with the Knights, said about this year’s squad, “I think we have a good chance to come out pretty decent on the conference side and on the region side.  We have a pretty good group of sophomores that are our core that is returning for us.”

The three starters that return are Shannon Lieber, Brittney Odum and Jazmin (Mehana) Chang.  Sara Runia is returning from an ACL injury last year and Christina Rodie is the other returning sophomore on this year’s team.

The pitching staff will be anchored by Shannon Lieber, who will get a majority of the starts.  Lieber, in the 2013-14 campaign had an earned run average of 4.65 in 75.1 innings pitched.  She had 3 wins and 6 losses on the season.  The Knights have other players who can step in and get some innings.

“Sara Runia has showed a lot of potential in the fall and the spring working on her pitching,” said Higgins.  Higgins also looks to freshman Baileigh Oleson, along with Runia, to be back up to Lieber, and get some starts. “She has a lot of hard work and ‘go after it’ attitude.  She gets it done on the mound,” Higgins said about Oleson”

Other Knights that will compete out of the bullpen will be Sara Villalobos and Audrie Conner, along with Toree Polsley and Andrea Quiroga to provide some relief.  As for pitching, according to Higgins, “We look pretty well depth wise.”

The catcher position is up for grabs.  The Knights will look to freshmen Villalobos and Jessica Jarvis, along with sophomore Rodie to handle the catching duties.  “Villalobos has stuck out as a good candidate to get some starts. Jarvis will get a lot of starts as well.  Jarvis is very quick.  We just have to get her some confidence.  She is a quiet kid and soft spoken kid, so to get her to open up those lungs and be a vocal leader will get her some starts,” Higgins said.

How the infield shapes up is dependent on who is pitching. Runia and Oleson play middle infield for the Lady Knights. Lieber, when not pitching will play first or second.  Polsley can play second.  Caroline Mobis will play first or third. “She is very strong, very quick and has a solid arm. I see her getting a lot of innings at third,” said Higgins.

The outfield has two returning players in it,    Brittney Odum and Mahana Chang.  The third outfielder could rotate depending on who is pitching and catching.  Some of the candidates to fill the third position are Christina Rodie, Sara Villalobos, Jessica Jarvis and Andrea Quiroga.

Hitting wise, Higgins said, “We have some pretty good bats coming back. Odum has been working hard in the off-season cranking the ball, along with Chang.  Lieber has been working hard and Christina Rodie had some key hits in the fall season.”

Higgins noted freshmen that should contribute offensively.  Baileigh Oleson will supply some power.  Higgins also mentioned Caroline Mobis.

“During the fall portion of the schedule, Mobis batted in the leadoff spot. She is very consistant.  She is good at reading the count, reading the batters and reading the pitchers,” Higgins said. Other freshmen that could provide some power Higgins mentioned are Tara Crouch and Andrea Quiroga.  “Out of the 14 kids on the roster, all 14 have the chance to show us some real good at bats” Higgins said.

The running game will miss Siarra Velasquez, who moved on to William Penn University.  Velasquez had 36 stolen bases last season.  The Knights will look to Audrie Conner, Andrea Quiroga and Mehana Chang to provide spark on the base paths.

The Knights open up the season on Saturday, February 7, as they travel to Colby Community College in a doubleheader. Game times are at noon and 2 p.m. CST.

The Knights will be on the road for the month of February.  They will have games throughout the month in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Colorado before their first home game against Colby Community College on March 8.

ESPN Radio will once again do play by play of many Knights softball games.  They can also be heard on the internet at www.northplattepost.com .  Most of the home games will be live streamed on www.coachesaid.com.