With 29 victories, the Youngstown State University softball team wrapped up one of its best seasons to date.
The 2012 campaign resulted in the second-highest win total for a single season, ultimately producing an overall record of 29-21-1. This propelled the Penguins to a fourth-place, 12-10 mark in the Horizon League.
Nine team and individual records were established this season. The Penguins drove in 279 runs, shattering the old record of 220 set in 2003. In addition, the team was able to rack up 244 RBIs, becoming the first team in school history to drive in more than 200 runs. The Penguins also destroyed the 198 RBI mark set in 2011.
In addition, they finished second in the HL with 64 doubles, 55 stolen bases and 1,369 at bats, and third with 36 home runs.
As a team, the Penguins excelled, but this is partially attributable to several standout players that led them to victory.
Haley Thomas, a senior outfielder, was named as 2012 HL Player of the Year and made First-Team All-HL. She set the YSU single-season hits record with 70. Thomas was one of two players batting above .400 with an average of .443, earning her a leading rank in the HL. She also had a slugging percentage of .631, the third-best in the league.
Senior outfielder Jordan Ingalls joined Thomas with a First-Team All-HL designation.
Vicky Rumph, junior catcher and infielder, was selected for Second-Team All-HL honors, while Kayla Haslett, freshman pitcher and infielder, was picked for the HL All-Newcomer Team.
Ingalls completed her season as third in the HL with a .409 batting average and second with 67 hits. She also had 34 RBIs and a .530 slugging percentage, which ranked her 10th in the league.
Rumph ranked seventh for her 35 RBIs and tied with teammate Ingalls for her .530 slugging percentage.
Haslett went 7-7 overall with a 3.47 earned run average and 31 strikeouts. She was the first YSU pitcher since 2004 to be named to the All-Newcomer Team.
Brian Campbell, head softball coach, earned 2012 HL Coach of the Year honors, but he forwarded all praise to the team.
“Overall, it was just a different feel this year, and it’s a great accomplishment by the young ladies,” he said.
Campbell has been with YSU for four seasons, and he led the Penguins to their most overall wins since 2004, when they earned 28.
In 2011, the team placed eighth in the league with a 5-16 HL record. Campbell was able to guide the team to fourth place in the 2012 season, which was four spots higher than what the league’s coaches had predicted.
Campbell said he doesn’t make predictions about the seasons, however. “But, I will say this,” he said. “The girls are coming back, working just as hard as last year.”
