Rudi
CantuAshley
KapplerKrista
SitkaFRISCO —
UTSA has been picked to finish third in both Southland Conference Preseason Softball Polls and a trio of Roadrunners have been named to the all-conference team, the league office announced Monday.
The Roadrunners, which return 12 letterwinners from last year’s squad that finished 29-29 overall and in third place in the Southland at 18-11, received 82 points in the sports information directors poll and 68 from the league’s head coaches.
A trio of UTSA players was chosen to the preseason all-conference team, highlighted by senior outfielder Rudi Cantu, who was named to the first team outfield. Cantu, a three-time all-league selection, batted .303 with 59 hits, 35 runs and 11 RBIs and she was 18-for-20 on stolen bases.
Senior Krista Sitka and sophomore Ashley Kappler were voted to the second team at first base and second base, respectively. Sitka, a second-team selection a year ago, hit .241 —including .299 in league play — with 34 hits, four doubles and 16 RBIs last season, while Kappler batted .274 with 48 hits, 24 runs, five doubles, three home runs and 15 RBIs en route to honorable mention accolades as a freshman.
Texas State is favored to win its third consecutive regular season championship. The Bobcats received 99 points and nine first-place votes in both polls. Stephen F. Austin was picked second, receiving one first-place vote in both polls with 91 points in the coaches’ poll and 84 points in the SID poll.
Both polls had the same order of finish from first through sixth. After Texas State, Stephen F. Austin and UTSA, Sam Houston State was voted fourth, followed by McNeese State — which received one first-place vote in both polls — and UT Arlington. The seventh, eighth and ninth-place rankings differed in each poll, as the coaches selected Texas A&M-Corpus Christi seventh, Nicholls eighth and Central Arkansas ninth. In the SID poll, Nicholls was chosen seventh, Central Arkansas eighth and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi ninth. Southeastern Louisiana and Northwestern State round out both polls as the 10th- and 11th-ranked teams, respectively.
2010 Southland Conference Preseason Teams
First Team
C — Samantha Chumchal, UT Arlington
1B — Kayla Gutowski, Stephen F. Austin
2B — Ashley Struchtemeyer, Stephen F. Austin
3B — Briana Bishop, Stephen F. Austin
SS — Hailey Wiginton, Sam Houston State
OF — Rudi Cantu, UTSA
OF — Heather Fortenberry, UT Arlington
OF — Kendal Harper, Stephen F. Austin
DP — McKenzie Baack, Texas State
UT — Leah Boatright, Texas State
P — Monika Covington, Stephen F. Austin
P — Chandler Hall, Texas State
Second Team
C — Alaina Byars, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
1B — Krista Sitka, UTSA
2B — Ashley Kappler, UTSA
3B — Jenna Emery, Texas State
SS — Molly Guidry, McNeese State
OF — Sarah Garcia, Central ArkansasOF — Lindsey Langner, McNeese State
OF — Cassie Redman, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
DP — Morgan Mikulin, Sam Houston State
UT — Katie Duhe, Southeastern Louisiana
P — Lacey Gros, Nicholls
P — Holli Hill, Central Arkansas