College Park Regional: Preview

Taylor Stadium

Teams: Baylor, Maryland, East Carolina, Lehigh
Location: Taylor Stadium (College Park, MD)

Players to watch:
Whitney Canion, Baylor
Dani Leal, Baylor
Vangie Galindo, Maryland
Toni Paisley, East Carolina
Liz Lucas, Lehigh

Interesting storyline: Maryland gets to host a regional for the second straight year and for the second straight year, they probably won't find themselves in the regional final. Baylor and East Carolina each have an outstanding ace in the circle and it is going to be hard for Maryland to beat either of them.

Runner up: Maryland's Bree Hanafin could possibly face her former team Baylor at this regional

Toni Paisley

Overview: This is the second time Baylor has been sent out to the token Northeast regional, but this time it will be a little tougher for them. The Bears come into this regional with one of the top pitchers in the nation in southpaw Whitney Canion and she will be tough to beat. Baylor also has a potent offensive attack as well, led by Dani Leal and Kathy Shelton. The Bears like to run the bases and they have amassed 105 steals on the year. Baylor needs to go out and perform on the field, as no one is going to give this regional to them. Maryland is a well rounded team and they feature three solid pitchers that they can turn to in the circle. Kerry Hickey, Ashley Czechner, and Kendra Knight are an impressive trio, but it will be interesting to see how they are managed at this regional. When Maryland is going up against pitchers like Whitney Canion and Toni Paisley they have no room for error. At the plate, Vangie Galindo is having a great year, as is Bree Hanafin, but Maryland will have its work cut out for them. East Carolina comes in after winning the Conference USA tournament and they will go as far as senior pitcher Toni Paisley can take them. Paisley is a 5th year senior and she doesn't need much run support. The Pirates aren't a great offensive squad, hitting just .245 as a team, but all they need to do is get on the board for Paisley to lead them to a victory. Lehigh is the final team at this regional and the Mountain Hawks are a feisty bunch. Lehigh advanced to regional finals in 2006 and 2009, but this squad doesn't have Lisa Sweeney and they may not have enough firepower to advance.

Winner: Baylor