Kluna, Labbe, Leverone & Tripp to Serve as Softball Captains

STANDISH, ME – Seniors Maddie Kluna (Standish, Maine), Maria Labbe (Lewiston, Maine) and Emily Leverone (Hampton, N.H.) and junior Heather Tripp (Lovell, Maine) will serve as team captains for the SJC softball team this spring.

Kluna and Labbe were also selected as captains last season while Leverone and Tripp are tabbed as extensions of the coaching staff for the first time as collegiate players.

Kluna, a two-time Second Team All-GNAC selection, logged 125 innings with a 14-5 record and a 2.07 ERA to go with 124 strikeouts as the Monks' top pitcher last season. For her career she is 30-16 with a 2.07 ERA and 249 K's in 294 innings pitched.

Labbe, a career .303 (54-178) hitter, has posted back to back solid campaigns and hit .358 (24-67) with six doubles and 18 runs batted in as a junior catcher. Look for this veteran player to cap her fine career with her best season to date.

Leverone, a three-time First Team All-GNAC selection, is one of the most feared sluggers in the conference and, with another banner campaign this spring, will likely exit the SJC program owning a lion's share of the team's hitting records. The Monks' starting center fielder goes into her senior season as the Monks' all-time leader in hits (200), home runs (27), RBI (169), slugging percentage (.842) and OPS (1.362) and also ranks second in team history in doubles (50), batting average (.480) and OBP (.520).

Tripp, who will also see time behind the dish this season, is likely to be a mainstay as a middle of the order bat for the Monks this spring after posting fine numbers during her sophomore year when she hit .279 (29-104) with six doubles, four home runs and 24 RBI. A player the team can depend on in clutch situations, Tripp belted what proved to be the game-winning home run – a three-run blast - in the GNAC Championship last season.

Saint Joseph's went 37-10 overall and 21-3 in GNAC play under the watch of Head Coach Jamie Smyth '92, who is about to begin his 15th season at the helm, in 2011. The Monks captured their first GNAC Championship in four years as a league member, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, last spring.  

St. Joe's opens the 2012 campaign with a 10-game schedule in the Gene Cusic Classic in Fort Myers, Florida during the SJC Spring Break. The Monks begin play with single games versus Finlandia and North Park on March 12th.