UVU softball: Wolverines hope to compete for conference title in 2012

OREM — Despite 13 newcomers and just five returning players coming back for the Utah Valley University softball team in 2012, 14th year head coach Todd Fairbourne is optimistic and excited to get the new season underway against Southern Utah this weekend in St. George, Utah.

"We've had a lot of bad luck with injuries this offseason but our player's attitudes are still good," Fairbourne said. "The newcomers are coming along and a number of them are going to be players for us. The upside is here. What matters is our (conference) season and when it begins I hope to have a couple of our injured girls back."

The Wolverines will open the year with a two-game series against the Thunderbirds at Dixie State College in St. George. The games will begin at 1 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.

UVU finished third in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference Mountain Division with a 12-8 league record a year ago and went 20-30 overall.

Fairbourne was tabbed the PCSC Mountain Division Coach of the Year after he led his team to a strong conference season in 2011. Recently the Wolverines were once again tabbed to finish third in their division in the PCSC Preseason Coaches Poll. Defending champion Portland State was selected to repeat, while Northern Colorado was projected to finish second.

"There's something wrong with you if you don't want to win your conference and once again that is our approach," Fairbourne added. "I believe that this team can do it but in the end it doesn't matter what I think, it matters what they think and what they do. We want to go to the NCAA Tournament and that is what we are practicing and preparing for."

The five returning players for UVU this year are seniors Amanda Perez (first base/designated player) and Deianna Russell (catcher), junior Charlee Cisneros (outfield) and sophomores Amanda Robinson (first base/designated player) and Josi Summers (pitcher). Two of the returning players are out with injuries for now, however, as Summers, the reigning Great West Conference Newcomer of the Year, and Cisneros, a PCSC Honorable Mention selection last year, are currently rehabbing injuries.

"Robinson, Perez and Russell will be our main strengths this year," Fairbourne said. "They all have the ability to be able to get big hits when we need them. They are also all gamers and when the game is on the line they are at their best."