Finishing off last season with a record of 14-24, the Setters look to their new recruits as well as returning players to try and turn things around for the 2014 season.

The 2013 season saw a lot of inconsistencies for the Setters, with their losses either being very close games or blowouts.

“Most of our games were really close last year and it stinks that we lost the close ones,” said junior shortstop Jeanemarie Drury, who had the highest batting average of any position player last season with an average of .345. “We did not get the right hit at the right time or the defensive plays that we needed. I think that our pitching was not as consistent as it needed to be last year and that hurt us. We just did not play as solid as we could have.”

Drury’s comments seem to agree with the statistics for the 2013 season. The Setter’s pitchers allowed opponents to score 200 runs over the course of 38 games last season, while Pace scored 132 runs. Opponents got 308 hits compared to the Setter’s 270 hits; while in terms of batting average the Setters had a collective .274 average, while opponents slugged their way to a .311 batting aver- age.

While the gap between the statistics is not that wide, Drury believes that there are areas where the Setters can further develop. “We have to improve on get- ting the job done with runners in scoring position and getting those runs across the plate,” Drury said. The Setters feel like they are in a much better place with eight new players joining the team for the upcoming 2014 season. “It’s made us a lot more competitive that we have been in the past because we have a variety of depth in different positions,” said Coach Claudia Stabile in a recent Coach’s Corner interview.

Along with the new recruits, junior Caitlin McCann returns to the mound after being sidelined last season with a hairline fracture in the femoral neck of her hip.

McCann comes back ready to pitch and excited for what the forthcoming season will bring.

“I’m thrilled to play this up- coming season,” said McCann, who had an 11-5 record for the Setters in the 2012 season. “I’ve been working since the injury happened to prepare and better myself for what’s to come in the spring.”

Having finished the fall practice season with a record of 5-2, a time in which the team, according to head Coach Stabile, is able to do “things that we aren’t able to do outside prior to the first few games,” the Setters are feeling confident going into the 2014 sea- son.

The fall practices give the team the chance to work on their base running and throwing, among other things, as well as give the team a chance to play together before the start of the season.

“We have a really talented group of girls and we’ve started to gel really nicely already,” McCann said.

The softball season officially kicks off on Sat., March 1 at 1 p.m., when Pace takes on Bowie St., with the first home game for the Setters on Sat., March 22 at 12 p.m. against St. Anselm.

The complete schedule can be found online at pacesettersathletics.com.