Returning players bodes well for Lady Cardinal softball

The Lady Cardinal softball season starts today with pre-league games. Both the JV and varsity will play host to teams from St. Bonaventure at 3:30 p.m.Head coach Heather Shock returns for her second year at the helm. She says she has six girls returning from last year. “We have five other girls we’ve picked up to complete our team for the 2005 season,” Shock said. “Everybody’s pretty excited and we’re ready to go.”Shock notes that there are five seniors on this year’s team. She expects them to step up and take the lead. The rest of the team is made up of a freshman; a sophomore and the remainder are juniors. “I’m absolutely positive that this team will do very, very good this season,” she added.The Lady Cards have two strong pitchers this season and Shock says they can go as deep as four or five pitchers if the need arises.There are no changes in the pre-season lineup this year. “We have a lot of hard competition that we’re going to be facing,” said Shock. “Everybody’s got a new team this year as well as we do, so hopefully we’ll be able to compete. The game to win will be every game, because it’s going to be a tough fight every single game because everybody’s so competitive in our league.”