Washington Softball

      Looking up and down her roster, Washington head softball coach Angie Shrader sees all the ingredients necessary for a winning season.

      Pitching, hitting, speed, veterans - you name it, and the Demons have the personnel to fill the shoes.

       But still, with opening night just a few short days away, Shrader and assistant coach Dean Eaton find themselves with a serious dilemma, and it has no easy solution.

      "The problem we have right now is that we have 10 or 11 kids who are awesome ballplayers, and they can play about anywhere on the field we need them to," Shrader said. "We just have to find that right combination to be solid."

      Washington enters the 2004 softball season with as much talent as it's ever had under Shrader, and the coach knows that if the Demons hope to take the program to the next level, this will be the year to do it. The Demons have been a middle-of-the-pack team in the Southeast Conference in recent history, but with veterans like Abby Klopfenstein, Carly Quinn and Sally Distelhorst returning, this is the summer to challenge SEC heavyweights Fairfield and Mt. Pleasant.

      "I'm hoping this year is our breakout year in the conference," Shrader said. "It's going to be a tight race, because on any night, anybody can knock off anybody."

      Washington loses just two players from last year's 20-26 team - graduated second baseman Bethany Sieren, and senior Lindsay Vittetoe, who is beginning college early this summer.

      Everyone else, however, is back in uniform.

      "We have quite a returning bunch," Shrader said.