HPU preseason favorite for PacWest title

HPU given inside track for PacWest title; Kessel, Plunkett garner top honors

QUEEN CREEK, AZ - In 2008, the Hawai‘i Pacific University softball team posted a dominating 43-5-1 overall record and a 23-1 Pacific West Conference mark - and didn't get an invitation to the NCAA Division II West Region Championship Tournament.

With the PacWest getting an automatic berth in that same event this year, the Sea Warriors have something to prove.

HPU claimed five of the seven first-place votes to earn the bull's eye as the team to beat in the PacWest in 2009.

The Sea Warriors also landed five players on the PacWest Preseason All-Conference Team and claimed both the PacWest Preseason Pitcher and Player of the Year honors.

The predicted order of finish and preseason squad were selected by the head coaches or designated representatives from the seven Pacific West Conference member institutions. The announcement was made on Wednesday, Feb. 11, from the PacWest Media Office in Queen Creek, AZ.

It won't be easy for HPU to repeat. Dixie State earned one first-place vote and is predicted to finish second, while Hawai‘i Hilo and Grand Canyon - which received the other first-place vote - were tabbed third and fourth, respectively. BYU-Hawaii, Chaminade and Notre Dame de Namur rounded out the order of finish.

Individually for the Sea Warriors, senior SS Krystal Plunkett (Pearl City, HI/Pearl City), the 2007 PacWest Player of the Year, was selected as the 2009 PacWest Preseason Player of the Year and the Preseason All-Conference Shortstop.

Last season Plunkett hit .434 in 49 starts while belting eight home runs and driving in 43 runs. She finished the year with a .678 slugging percentage, nine doubles, two triples, 23 walks, a .511 on-base mark, 36 runs scored and 66 base hits.

The veteran infielder is a two-time All-PacWest First Team selection.

Senior teammate Courtney Kessell (Waimanalo, HI/Kailua) was voted as the 2009 Preseason Pitcher of the Year and to the Preseason All-Conference Team after a stellar 2008 campaign that earned her Pitcher of the Year accolades and a First Team All-PacWest selection. She was an Honorable Mention in 2007.

In 2008, Kessell concocted an outstanding 23-2 record with a 1.27 earned run average in 27 appearances. She tossed 19 complete games with nine shutouts over 165.2 innings of work, striking out 132 batters along the way. Opponents hit just .217 against her.

HPU landed a pair of outfielders on the preseason squad in juniors Ciera Senas (Mililani, HI/Mililani) and Tajia Acierto (Kapolei, HI/Punahou). Senas was a First Team All-PacWest selection last year, while Acierto earned First Team honors in 2007 and Second Team accolades in 2008.

Senas hit .346 in 46 games for the Sea Warriors during the 2008 campaign, scoring 35 runs and whacking 54 base hits. She had five doubles and six triples to go along with a .455 slugging percentage and seven stolen bases.

Acierto batted .313 in 48 games, cracking six home runs while recording 42 base hits that led to a .470 slugging mark.

Rounding out HPU's preseason selections was junior hurler Sherise Musquiz (Pico Rivera, CA/El Rancho), a two-time First Team All-PacWest selection and the 2007 Pitcher and Freshman of the Year.

Musquiz boasted the best ERA among the preseason nominees with a 1.14 mark in 2008. She finished the year 19-3 with 62 strikeouts over 148 innings of work, posting seven shutouts and 18 complete games.

Opponents could muster just a .204 batting average against her arm.

The PacWest Preseason All-Conference Team featured four pitchers making the squad. Dixie State senior Haley Schumers (Plain City, UT/Fremont) and Hawai‘i Hilo junior Sarah Weisskopf (Kapolei,HI/Punahou Schools) are two reasons that HPU will be challenged for the league title.

Schumers was a Second Team selection in 2008 after finishing with a league-best 162 strikeouts in 161 innings of work. She recorded a 13-11 record and a 2.48 ERA with four shutouts.

Weisskopf returns after missing the 2008 campaign. In 2008 she was selected to the PacWest Second Team after compiling a 20-4 mark and a 1.81 earned run average. She struck out 85 batters in 150.2 innings of action and chucked 16 complete games.

Dixie State also landed senior OF Dabney McIntyre (Taylorsville, UT/Taylorsville) and sophomore catcher Breanna Egge (Las Vegas, NV/Centennial) on the PacWest Preseason All-Conference Team.

McIntyre was a First Team choice in 2008 after hitting .367 in 50 games. She scored 36 runs, roped 11 doubles, totaled 62 base hits and produced a .450 slugging mark. She also had 12 stolen bases and a .425 on-base rate.

Egge hit .276 with 18 runs scored, 11 RBI and six stolen bases.

Grand Canyon earned a trio of preseason selections this year. Senior 1B Randi Johns (Waddell, AZ/Millennium), a two-time Second Team All-PacWest selection, joined senior 2B Yasmeen Watkins (Sunnyslope, AZ/Sunnyslope) in the infield.

Watkins was an All-PacWest First Team choice and the PacWest Newcomer of the Year in 2008 after hitting .405 in 50 starts. She had 62 base hits, scored 37 runs, smacked 11 doubles and 13 home runs, drove in 62 runs, and compiled a stunning .732 slugging percentage.

She also turned in a .447 on-base mark, eight stolen bases and 14 walks while striking out only 15 times in 153 at-bats.

Johns hit .367 last season for the Antelopes in 50 starts, stroking a dozen home runs, nine doubles, 54 base hits and one triple.

She produced a .687 slugging rate and a .478 on-base mark while striking out just seven times in 147 at-bats.

Junior Tracy Lubken (Scottsdale, AZ/Horizon), a first-year member of the Grand Canyon team, was selected as the designated player for the preseason squad.

BYU-Hawaii and Chaminade each landed one representative on the Preseason All-PacWest Team.

The Seasiders saw senior 3B Melissa Lehano (Mililani, HI/Mililani), a Second Team All-Conference selection in 2008, earn a spot, while the Silverswords placed sophomore utility player Skye Virtudes (Mililani, HI/Mililani) on the squad.

Mililani High School totaled three players on the PacWest Preseason club this year.
Lehano hit .324 in 2008 over 43 starts. She produced 45 base hits, seven doubles, 16 RBI, 25 runs scored and 14 stolen bases.

Virtudes batted .290 in 27 games.