Temple Names Women’s Softball Captains

RELEASE FROM TEMPLE UNIVERSITY

PHILADELPHIA, January 4, 2012 Temple’s head softball coach, Joe DiPietro has announced the captains for the 2012 season. Senior Samantha Schoell, and juniors Kayla Cook and Ali Robinson will split the leadership role for the upcoming season. All three players were captains last season.

Schoell played in and started all 45 games for Temple this past season, one of only two players to do so. The right fielder had her best offensive year to date, with a career-best .234 average to go along with career-highs in doubles (5), triples (1) and homeruns (2). The Lansdale, Pa., native continues to also get it done in the classroom, sporting the top grade point average among Temple University student-athletes this past spring and earning her second-straight appearance on Temple’s “Trustee Ten” list, given to the top-10 student-athletes at Temple based on GPA. In May, she was named to the Capital OneAcademic All-District II University Division First Team. She is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, the University’s Dean’s List and the Atlantic 10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

“Sam has all of my respect as a player and a person,” said DiPietro. “She’s the quiet one on our team and leads by example. When Sammy does say something, all of our players know to listen and they do because of the person that she is. I’m really going to miss everything she brings to our team next year after she graduates.”

Cook returns to the squad for her junior campaign after seeing limited action last season due to injury. She will look to build on a solid rookie season that saw her start in all 47 games in which she played. She saw time at four different positions for the Owls (catcher, first base, third base and designated hitter), with most of her time spent behind the plate or at first. Cook batted .213 with five doubles and two homeruns. Defensively, she was solid in her active positions, committing just nine errors in 256 chances for a .965 fielding percentage.

“Kayla has come a long way since her freshmen year,” commented DiPietro. “She, like Sammy, is a more reserved person. Last year as one of our captains Kayla, couldn’t play much due to recovering from shoulder surgery. That didn’t deter her from being a leader. She did whatever she could to help her teammates become better players, as well as learning what it means to be a Division I player.”

Robinson, the team’s starting centerfielder in all 44 games she played in last season, rounds out the trio of captains for the Owls. She batted .234 last year with a career-best six doubles and six home runs. Her 19 RBI ranked fifth on the squad, and she proved a threat on the base path with a perfect 6-for-6 effort in stolen bases. Robinson continued to prove her defensive abilities, committing just three errors in 71 opportunities for a .958 fielding percentage.

“Ali was my first recruit when I became the coach at Temple,” said DiPietro. “One of the things that drew me toward Ali was her leadership qualities. It didn’t hurt that she was a tremendous player too! She is our vocal leader and I’m really happy that she’s serving as captain again.”

Temple will look to improve on its 22-23 (12-6 A-10) record from a season ago that saw the team advance to the Atlantic 10 Tournament for the first time since 2007. The Owls finished the season fourth in the 11-team A-10 conference.

 

The Cherry and White open the season on February 24 when they head to Conway, S.C., for the Coastal Carolina Chanticleer Classic. First pitch of the season is slated for 11 a.m. against IPFW, before the squad takes on the host team at 3:30 p.m. that same day

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*