The Lancaster Bible softball team just wants to play a game again. Having been unable to play due to poor weather since returning from Florida almost two weeks ago, it appears the Chargers will finally get the chance to play against someone other than themselves on Wednesday as they open North Eastern Athletic Conference play against Penn St. Berks. It will mark the first time the softball program has hosted a game on campus in nearly 15 years as the Chargers played their home games at Garrett Field in Willow Street last season while their field was being completed. 

Wednesday's games are the first two of six scheduled to be played on campus over the next three days as Lancaster Bible will host St. Elizabeth on Thursday and Penn St. Abington on Friday. After not being able to play other than in Florida during the month of March, April will be quite busy for the Chargers as they are scheduled to play 28 times (14 dates) from Wednesday until April 25. Twenty of those contests will be NEAC games as the Chargers will look to qualify for the NEAC playoffs for the first time in program history. Lancaster Bible was 7-12 last season in NEAC play as the Chargers defeated every team in the NEAC South Division at least one time.

With conference play beginning on Wednesday, Lancaster Bible Head Coach Brad Brubaker partook in a question and answer session to discuss the ins and outs of the 2015 Chargers. (Questions are in red, Coach Brubaker's responses are in black.)

Q: Describe each of the new players and the skill set (on/off field) they bring to the team.
A: Solid softball teams are build up the middle and thus, our recruiting efforts for the Class of 2014 were focused on securing pitchers, catchers, middle infielders and a center-fielder. Our efforts were rewarded as it was clear from the outset that we had assembled strength in those key areas.

Catcher: Added Kellie Wallace, a Lancaster-Lebanon (L-L) League Section Four First-Team All-Star from Pequea Valley, a team that is a perennial Lancaster County power and fixture in the postseason. Kellie brings a quiet confidence behind the dish and provides us a seamless transition from the graduation of Kathryn Ritter. Kellie has developed good defensive fundamentals and throwing mechanics and will likely turnover our lineup from the number nine spot in the hitting order. 

Pitcher: We are very fortunate to have added Class AAA All-State and York Interscholastic Athletic Association performer Julia D'Arrigo from Kennard-Dale High School. D'Arrigo, who will also play third base, led K-D to the District 3 Tournament as a senior. She has a variety of pitches, throws hard and is a competitive force in the pitching circle. A very capable third baseman, she will showcase her offensive skills batting third in our lineup. 

Adding depth to the pitching staff is Emily Coffman. She has travel ball experience and during winter workouts, proved to be capable of playing a variety of positions, including first base, second base and outfield. She will see action as a utility player at all positions this season.

Courtney Koser will also play a key role on the team as she comes back home to Lancaster County after being at Arcadia University. Koser was a power-hitting first baseman during her time at Elizabethtown High School and will quickly be recognizable as one of the best fielding first basemen in the NEAC and will also serve as our back-up catcher.

We have also added Alicia Ort who will primarily see time in the outfield, but can also play second base.

Q: Having not been able to practice outside very much this spring, what are the team's expectations early in conference play?
A: You never really know what you have until you play outside on a field. We have tried our best to duplicate the pressure and decision-making required in a college softball game, but practicing in a gym has limited our ability to adequately prepare the outfield and work on relays and cuts. That being said, many of our opponents in the NEAC will be experiencing the same learning curve. We have a nucleus back from last year that intends to take the field and be ready to compete immediately.

Q: Despite last season being the program's first season, there seem to be some fairly large expectations for the team this season (postseason, etc.). Is that a good thing? Have the ladies embraced this?
A: Regardless of the number of returning players, each year is a new team. For a first-year program, we felt we learned to compete as the season wore on and became a tough opponent battling our NEAC South Division foes. Our team goals are to have a winning season and qualify for the postseason. Our student-athletes embrace those goals, but realize we won't sneak up on any opponents this year. 

Q: Whatever the expectations are, what do you and the team see as the expectations this season?
A: We relish having our own expectations. As a second-year program playing at a school that had not fielded an intercollegiate team since 2001, we have a certain reputation. We don't let that reputation define us, rather we have lofty expectations to make the postseason and those are all that we are concerned about.

Q: With the advantage of having multiple players who can pitch, how will the pitching breakdown look this season after having predominantly one pitcher last season?
A: Adding pitching was a main focus of our offseason recruiting. We found a gem in Julia D'Arrigo. She's a strong pitcher who has worked on developing her change-up and movement pitches to compliment her speed. I like having two pitchers that can play third base. We are now capable of making in-game pitching changes without losing a substitution. Emily Coffman is a wonderful compliment to both Kelsey and Julia. She is not a power pitcher, but has good spin on her pitches and a very dangerous off-speed pitch.

Q: Do you feel like the team's strength will be in manufacturing runs, scoring lots of runs, or a mix in between the two?
A: After nearly two months inside, I believe our pitching is ahead of our hitting. We will rely on the pitchers to keep us in games, then we will look to manufacture runs. We like to use the short game effectively and several players in our lineup do have power to give us extra base hits. 

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday's doubleheaders will all begin at 3 p.m.