2012 Campbell Softball Fall Schedule
Sept. 15 Louisburg C.C. (DH) 1 p.m.
Sept. 22 Mount Olive College (DH) Noon
Sept. 28 Pitt C.C. (DH) 5 p.m.
Oct. 6 East Carolina (DH) 3 p.m.
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Campbell softball head coach Drew Peterson released on Thursday the program's 2012 fall schedule. It includes three home dates at Amanda Littlejohn Stadium along with a finale at East Carolina.
"The preseason provides the chance to get the jitters out of the way for the newcomers and the opportunity to see where we need to spend our time over the winter, emphasizing areas of weakness," said coach Peterson. "It is good for our fans to have an opportunity to see the team as a whole because we will play everyone equally. They will have a glimpse at what our full team's depth is like."
The Camels open the slate on Saturday with a doubleheader against Louisburg Community College beginning at 1 p.m. On Sept. 22, Campbell welcomes Mount Olive College to Amanda Little John Stadium for a twinbill starting at noon.
Completing the home schedule is Pitt Community College on Sept. 28 with a doubleheader set to begin at 5 p.m.
"I believe that Pitt and Louisburg are two of the strongest coached junior college teams in North Carolina," said coach Peterson. "They are also very excited to come and play a Division I school and try to prove to us that they should be on our level. These teams are generally very aggressive on the bases and have good pitching."
To wrap up the fall slate, Campbell is scheduled to test itself at East Carolina on Oct. 6 with a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m.
"I think finishing our fall ball with East Carolina is a very good test to see where we are at and a good measuring stick for us going into the winter," said coach Peterson. "They are always a terrific opponent with great talent and an extremely well-coached team."
The Camels welcomed a couple new faces in the offseason in freshmen Courtney Klingler (Alvin, Texas), Courtney Roberts (Simpsonville, S.C.) and Haley Haselden (Aynor, S.C.) and junior Amanda Daw (Pantego, N.C.). Coach Peterson changed up his coaching staff in the offseason, bringing in assistant coaches Todd Bradley and Brittany Stanley Lee and volunteer assistant Eric Lee.
"The preseason serves as spring training for softball and allows us to put our offensive and defensive schemes into effect," said coach Peterson. "Our hitters are learning a new hitting philosophy, while the pitching philosophy is also changing for the pitchers. This year the preseason is very important for our entire team."
The coaching staff have seen a lot of positives with the team through the first couple of weeks of the preseason. The team came back from the summer at a higher fitness level and the upperclassmen have stepped up into leadership roles.
"One aspect that has stood out to me this fall is consistency," said coach Peterson. "I really feel like the team came to school this fall with a sense of urgency. We only graduated two players last year and had a very large freshman class. What the coaching staff is seeing is a group that has a clear picture of what they need to do to be successful. Now they are coming in with a new sense of purpose and a desire to perform better than they did a year ago, knowing what it is all about."
