Lyndonville, VT - The Vermont State University Lyndon softball team will open its 2024 season with four exhibition games and seven regular season contests at the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic in North Myrtle Beach, SC. The Hornets will take to the field for the first time on Wednesday afternoon with a pair of exhibitions against Wake Technical Community College and the University of Slouth Carolina Union.
Lyndon returns a veteran roster of 14 players, all of whom were a part of the 2023 team. That experience begins in the circle, as senior tri-captain Victoria Valentine (East Burke, VT) and sophomore Hannah Corvino (Milford, NJ) are expected to again head up the pitching staff. Valentine is a returning North Atlantic Conference 1st Team All-Conference selection. She made 13 starts, posting a 6-7 record and recording 34 strikeouts in 73.2 innings pitched. Valentine has 24 career wins and 129 career strikeouts. Corvino finished 3-6 in her freshman campaign. She struck out 32 batters in 64 innings pitched and posted a team best 4.27 earned run average.
Sophomore Bailey Quire (Gainesville, FL) and junior Caitlin Haggett (St. Johnsbury, VT) will provide Lyndon with additional pitching depth. Both missed most of 2023 with injury, while Haggett made three appearances in the circle in 2022.
Fifth year senior tri-captain second baseman Amber Everett (Morrisville, VT), graduate student infielder Saleena Porter (St. Johnsbury, VT), and junior third baseman Seairra Anderson (Somersworth, NH) return to anchor the infield and lead the batting order. Everett hit .303 in her two prior seasons at Lyndon. Porter looks to return to the form which made her a 1st Team All-Conference selection in 2022. She is a .308 career hitter with three home runs and 42 runs batted in. Anderson was a 2nd Team All-Conference selection in 2023, when she hit a team best .303.
Junior tri-captain Blake Southworth (Bethel, VT) was hitting a team best .313 last season before going down with an injury. She is a career .297 hitter and expected to play both infield and outfield this season. Junior Claudia Knapp (Howell, NJ), the 2022 NAC Rookie of the Year, also returns, as does 2nd Team All-Conference sophomore Adriana Lemieux (St. Johnsbury, VT). Knapp is expected to be the top power hitter in the Hornet lineup, as she boasts a .311 career batting average with eight home runs and 43 runs batted in. Lemieux hit .247 and emerged as a top defensive catcher, throwing out over half of the runners who attempted to steal against her.
Valentine will also be counted on at the plate and in the field when not pitching. She is a career .290 hitter and has 39 runs batted in and 16 stolen bases.
Other returnees include sophomore outfielder Ann Watkins (Los Angeles, CA), junior first baseman Riann Fortin (Newport, VT), sophomore catcher Lindsey Gannon (Beverly, MA), and sophomore third baseman Kazandra Gonzalez (Norwalk, CA).
Lyndon head coach Kevin Valentine returns for his sixth season. He expects that his experienced roster will be in the thick of the race for the NAC championship. "We are a very experienced roster and our team chemistry is very strong. We expect to make the playoffs and compete for the NAC title."
The Hornets will look to make a return to the post-season after finishing just outside of the NAC playoffs in 2023, a season where they finished 10-19 overall and 4-6 in NAC play and tied for fourth place in the NAC's East Division.
The top three teams in the East and West Divisions will qualify for the NAC playoffs. The conference champion will earn automatic qualification to the NCAA Division III National Championship tournament.
