Wheeling, W. Va. – In her first season as Head Softball Coach at Wheeling University, Caressa DeRossett was tasked with leading a team comprised of mostly freshmen and sophomores. As the Wheeling Softball team moves into 2022, those freshmen and sophomores are now a year older and look to use their experience to grow the team. They finished 10-32 last season and 9-23 in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play.

That experience has pushed them this off-season, as they trained harder than ever to continue to grow on the field. DeRossett is excited for the upcoming season, and has high expectations for this year's squad.

"I expect our team to do very well this season," said DeRossett. "Our focus and our drive is strong. I'm excited for us to get out on the field and see us compete. We have been pushing ourselves hard everyday in practice and I'm excited to seee that effort unfold on the field."

Returning to lead the Cardinals are a pair of sophomores in Cassi Roman and Autumn Ohlestrom. Roman was the Cardinals top hitter last season, finishing with a .355 average, five home runs, and 24 RBI. She had an on-base percentage of .381 last season and slugged a team-best .570 in her freshman campaign. Ohlestrom finished as the team's most powerful hitter last season, leading the way with seven home runs a season ago. She led the team with a .584 hitting percentage and reached base at a .371 clip. Both women will be forces in the Cardinals lineup, but there are several other newcomers looking to make their mark with breakout seasons.

Sophomore catcher Maddie Munoz and sophomore outfielder Marissa Sanchez are two players who have been trending up this offseason. In her first season as an outfielder for the Cardinals, and appeared in 19 games playing mostly defense for the Cardinals. Sanchez had 26 at-bats a season ago and was a force on the base paths. Munoz mad herself known halfway through her freshman campaign, and finished the year hitting .138 with two RBI over 61 at-bats. However, on defense, she showed off a strong arm behind the plate, throwing out an average of 1.0 base runners attempting too steal per game. These two will look to join Ohlestrom and Roman as productive players in the lineup, and are two players that DeRossett is looking at to have a big season.

"Last season, (Maddie) turned it up behind the plate mid season, averaging 1.0 caught stealing each game, " said DeRossett. "She has worked really hard behind the plate and with her bat. Marissa has worked hard on getting her strength up, and is tearing it up in the box. I expect her to come up with a lot of clutch hits and great base running."

The MEC released their annual preseason poll a few weeks back, and picked Wheeling to finish fifth overall in the MEC North Division. That is where they finished last season after going 9-23 in conference play. However, they were able to finish the year strong, winning three of their final four games, including a sweep of Alderson Broaddus and a split with Notre Dame College. They are looking tk bring some of that momentum with them into 2022. They will once again be battling West Liberty and Fairmont State for the top spot in the division, as they try to climb the ladder.

"The MEC is a strong conference with lots of great competition," said DeRossett. "I am eager to see who returns and what newcomers each team will have. This conference doesn't have one dominant competitor, all 12 schools play hard and each doubleheader can go either way."

The Softball season kicks off on Saturday, February 12th when Wheeling heads to Morgantown to face Salem University in doubleheader action. They follow that up with spring trips to Owensboro, Kentucky and Winterville, Florida to get ready for the regular season. They open up MEC play on Saturday, March 19th when they host Alderson Broaddus at noon and 2 pm. They host Notre Dame College the very next day, accounting for their only two home games in March. However, in April, the team comes back home for games against Concord, Glenville State, and Slippery Rock. They battle West Liberty on Wednesday April 20th, and wrap up their home schedule on the 23rd and 24th against Frostburg State and Fairmont State.

The Wheeling University Softball team kicks off their season on Saturday, February 12th, when they head to Morgantown, West Virginia when they face Salem University at noon.