Fresh off of its 14th CUNYAC Postseason Championship in 2011, the College of Staten Island women's softball team will be looking for a return to prominence this season, and with Spring Training in the books, the team is ready to kick off the season with a cluster of new faces and a nucleus of dominating talent.  The team will open up regional and conference play beginning Saturday, when the team opens up against CUNYAC-rival Lehman College at the CSI Softball Complex at 11am.

When CSI dons their home uniforms they will be doing so having lost considerable talent from a year ago.  Seniors Joanna Tepedino, Raechel Strobel, Jenna Schulman, Michelle Ferraiuolo, and Jennifer Volpe not only did well to guide the Dolphins in their 2011 championship run, but their assault on the record books will leave holes that Head Coach Dr. Stella Porto, who celebrated her 200th win last year in her 9th season, will have to fill.

"It's starting to be typical of who we are," said Porto, "Every year we seem to lose a great cast of seniors, and they certainly leave some holes for us to fill.  We have a lot of players, however, who are ready to take over those positions and leadership opportunities and it's great to see."

Optimism is high for the Dolphins even with the losses.  For one, the team returns reigning CUNYAC Player of the Year Kaitlyn Flynn (.469, 4 HR, 28 RBI in 2011) and Pitcher of the Year Danielle Ponsiglione (14-8, 2.82 ERA in 2011), alongside returning bats Kristi Dillon, Stefanie Solari, Catherine Ebro, and Amanda D'Amato.  The cluster keeps CSI's championship form intact, and according to the coach, the returning class (which also includes Solari in the pitcher's circle) should yield bigger dividends this year, thanks to increased opportunity.

"Their leadership is our nucleus," Porto said.  "Not only are our returners playing but they are also training our younger players and have become an extension of our coaching staff.  They have an incredible work ethic and by continuing our championship profile we feel we aren't missing much of a beat."

There is no question that for Porto, the key to keeping a quality program is to reload the roster.  The team has posted seven-straight 20-win seasons thanks to that mantra, and the team holds true to form with a heavy 11 new faces this season.  Freshmen Brittany Smith and two-sport star Chrtistine DeCarlo (basketball) have already made six starts after spring training, while Victoria Precopio, and Meaghan Teehan, will serve as hurlers alongside returners Ponsiglione and Solari.  Together, the 11 new faces should all expect to have a definitive role in 2012, and help lead the charge towards continued prominence.  For Porto, the new cast is unlike any other.

"The work ethic of our first-year players is way above where I expected it to be," she noted.  "Many of them never want to leave practices.  They are always pulling great questions and their desire to improve and get better is off of the charts.  I've never had a group that put in so much work.  It's going to make us an incredible team that is unified towards one common goal, and they make it fun to coach."

For Porto and her coaching staff, a run towards a CUNYAC Championship is nothing less than the norm for CSI, and as expected, despite being young and coming out of Spring Training in California with an 0-6 start, the Dolphins certainly hope to be in the championship mix, and make another run towards a national championship as they did a year ago.

"Our expectations will never change.  We want to be playing on that final day," she says. "We make it hard for ourselves.  We load our schedule up with nationally recognized teams and with new NCAA rules we are constantly retooling and retraining to keep us ahead of the curve competitively.  We have tremendous potential and as we go we hope we can realize the big goals we set for ourselves.

Aside from their CUNYAC opener tomorrow, a couple of other notable conference doubleheaders loom for CSI.  A March 31 encounter with perennial powers Hunter College is sure to be a great CUNYAC litmus test, as well as a late-season encounter with Baruch College on April 21 @ CSI at Noon.  The CUNYAC double-elimination postseason tournament will be hosted by CSI the weekend of May 4-5.