Despite being picked to win its division, Sacramento State’s softball team enters the 2010 season with some uncertainty.

After graduating quite possibly the best senior class in school history, head coach Kathy Strahan must replace six starters from last year’s team. Nine players on the 19-player roster will make their Hornets debut this spring.

Click here to meet the Sacramento State softball team

“We lost a huge core of veterans over the last two years,” Strahan said. “Megan Schaefer and Desiree Beltran are key to the success of this team this year.”

However, the Hornets have had great success in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference, finishing no lower than second place in each of the last five seasons. But Strahan said she knows it is not going to be an easy year.

“With so many new players, we are full of youth and inconsistency, we had have to get the new players ready through trial by fire,” Strahan said.

The new Hornets will have to recover from the losses of five All-Conference selections, including first-team members Jamie Schloredt, Izmena Cabrera and Whitney Loomis.

The Hornets return four members who earned all-conference awards last season. Among those returning are right fielder Jenice Bartee, Schaefer, Beltran, and first baseman Alyssa Nakken.

Beltran, the starting shortstop, returns after being named All-PCSC freshman of the year and was also a member of the all-region team.

Schaefer, who was the team’s ace last season, returns to lead the pitching staff. She had a 15-7 record with a 2.20 ERA. However, Schaefer did have offseason wrist surgery so it may take time for her to get back to her all-conference form.

Shelby Volez returns this season, but will take on more of a starting role instead of coming out of bullpen as she did for a lot of last season. Volez had an 8-8 record with 3.62 ERA.

The infield is the most stable area of the team heading into the season. Beltran is the headliner on offense after batting .413 with seven homeruns and 36 RBIs.

Along with Nakken, who will be playing first base, it appears third base has been locked up by freshman Emily McCormick. Second base is the only infield position where the spot is up for grabs. Freshman Erin Jones and sophomore Jessica Abelia will both have a shot to win the starting job during the early season.At catcher, the Hornets have their biggest question mark. Freshman Molly Smith was slated to be the starter but is unable to play due to injury. That leaves the position up for grabs for junior Ashlee Adkins, sophomore Marissa Navarro and freshman Amber Roszkos.

Among the three, Navarro is the only one to have any playing time at catcher. She started three games behind the plate last year. Roszkos is a walk-on, but had a surprising preseason camp and could be the favorite to win the job.Right fielder Jenice Bartee, who is one of only two seniors on the roster, leads the outfield group. Bartee was fourth in the conference in batting, and will be relied upon as a leader for the team. Joining her in the outfield are freshmen Kelly Frye and Nicole Frayn in center field and left field, respectively.

Frye and Frayn bring a lot of speed to the Hornets roster and they will be relied upon to bring a lot of excitement and round out an already fast outfield.As with any young team, there is going to be a lot of ups and downs this season.”(I want to see) the ability to battle back and be resilient (from out young players),” Strahan said. “There is a strong tradition of hard work in the softball program.”Another aspect of the season that could possibly hold the Hornets back is their difficult schedule. The Hornets have a non-conference schedule in which they play against 13 teams that made the NCAA Regionals a season ago.

Also this season, the PCSC is doubling in size and splitting into to divisions, Coastal and Mountain. Each division winner will face off in a conference championship best-of-three series.Joining the Hornets in the Coastal Division are CSU Bakersfield, Loyola Marymount University, Saint Mary’s University, University of San Diego, and Santa Clara University.

Ross Coleman can be reached at [email protected]