The Penn State Altoona softball team embarks on its 22nd NCAA Division III season this spring, which will see the program return to a full slate of games after playing just 20 regular season contests last year in a COVID-abbreviated schedule.

The 2022 season will bring plenty of familiarity for the Lions. The team is scheduled to play 36 games this year, including getting back to its annual spring break trip south to compete in The Spring Games in central Florida. The Lions' 16-player roster is also heavy on returners, with nine players coming back from last season's squad.

However, 2022 also marks a new era for the Penn State Altoona softball program. On March 1, Bill Graham was officially announced as the team's new head coach, taking the reins from former coach Joe Merilli, who was at the helm of the program for the past six seasons. Graham brings 30 years of coaching experience to Penn State Altoona, including very successful stints at Division I and Division II programs.

The Lions were voted into sixth place in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference's 2022 Preseason Coaches' Poll, after the team finished fifth in the conference last year. Penn State Altoona was 11-13-1 overall last spring, including an 8-8 mark in the AMCC.

Named as Players to Watch in the poll, and leading the way for Penn State Altoona's crop of returning position players, were senior infielder Jayde Burge (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola) and senior catcher Kristen Hewitt (Coalport, PA/Glendale). Burge was a third team All-AMCC selection last year and ranked 22nd in the conference in slugging percentage (.471) while also being 24th in doubles (4) and total bases (33), 29th in batting average (.343), and 30th in hits (24). Hewitt finished first in the AMCC last season in walks (14) and was also ninth in on-base percentage (.474), 17th in hits (28), 19th in runs scored (17), 21st in batting average (.364), and 27th in total bases (32).

Penn State Altoona also welcomes back seven other significant players from last season: senior right-handed pitcher/utility player Makenzie Lukehart (Utahville, PA/Glendale), junior right-handed pitcher Casey Reese (Cresson, PA/Penn Cambria), junior first baseman/catcher Katie College (Davidsville, PA/Conemaugh Township), junior outfielders Brooke Colledge (Everett, PA/Everett) and Madison Lucas (Philipsburg, PA/Philipsburg-Osceola), sophomore utility player Hannah Harlacher (York, PA/West York), and sophomore middle infielder Olivia Smith (Martinsburg, PA/Central).

Reese and Lukehart combined to pitch 159 of the Lions' 166 1/3 innings last season. Reese was Penn State Altoona's workhorse in the circle, leading the AMCC in appearances (22) while ranking second in wins (9), third in innings pitched (102 2/3), fourth in complete games (12), fifth in strikeouts (57), and seventh in strikeouts per game (3.89). Lukehart pitched 55 2/3 innings, making 12 total appearances that included 10 starts and two complete games.

Offensively, Smith provided a spark for the Lions throughout last season by ranking first in the AMCC in triples (6), seventh in stolen bases (8), eighth in total bases (45), and 10th in runs batted in (19). Lucas drove in 13 runs for Penn State Altoona last spring, while College hit .289 with five doubles and Harlacher batted 7-for-12 in 11 games. Colledge hit .300 and was limited to just seven games due to injury.

Penn State Altoona's roster is rounded out by seven players entering their first seasons with the program: sophomore utility player Cameryn Feathers (Martinsburg, PA/Central), who transferred from Division II Kutztown University, and freshman infielder/right-handed pitcher Alyssa Fisher (Lock Haven, PA/Central Mountain), freshman outfielders Mara Hockenberry (Bellefonte, PA/Bald Eagle) and Chloe Kramer (Willow Grove, PA/Upper Moreland), freshman infielder Gianna Hoppel (Lewistown, PA/Mifflin County), freshman catcher/third baseman Brooke Boonie (Petersburg, PA/Juniata Valley), and freshman catcher Maelyn Payne (Huntingdon, PA/Juniata Valley).

Penn State Altoona softball opens its 2022 schedule this Saturday, March 5 in its first day of The Spring Games. The Lions will face Massachusetts-Dartmouth at 10:45 a.m., then take on Bridgewater State University at 1:00 p.m., with both games being held at the Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex in Leesburg, Fla.