The Wolfpacker

74 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY RYAN TICE N C State became the first Division I softball program from the state of North Carolina to reach the Super Regionals of the NCAA Tourna- ment last year and finished ranked in the national polls (No. 19) for the first time. However, fourth-year head coach Shawn Rychcik and his squad must replace the two best players in program history, following the graduation of shortstop Renada Davis, the Wolfpack's only four-time All-ACC selec- tion, and ace pitcher Emily Weiman, who won 108 games and struck out 1,056 oppo- nents in 195 career appearances. It won't be easy to replace the duo, but the coach — who is 109-60-1 (.641 winning percentage) during his NCSU tenure — isn't relaxing his standards. After all, he is the mentor that inherited a team that went 23-31 (5-16 ACC) in 2012 and then immediately led them to an ACC championship. "I don't want to say we're not as good as those teams — it's just different," he said. "We don't have the certainties that we had, but everybody is a year older and a year better." Although the coach admits the pitching rotation will be determined during the season, there are some promising candidates to take the circle. It starts with junior pitcher Court- ney Mirabella, who went 7-5 last year with one save and a 2.80 ERA in 26 appearances (Weiman posted a 2.47 ERA). He isn't sure if Mirabella will become a Weiman-like workhorse, but the coach thinks she's ready to, at the very least, lead the rotation. "I would like to think she will probably get most of the innings because she's the most experienced," he explained. "But we're going to get some innings out of our sopho- more, Harli Hubbard — to what extent, I don't know. "Our freshman, Brittany Nimmo, had a really good fall as well. It's always scary running a freshman out there. They're going to have their ups and downs, but she showed she's not your average freshman." ■ PREVIEW SOFTBALL Junior Courtney Mirabella, who was 7-5 with one save and a 2.80 ERA in 26 appearances in 2015, is expected to take the mantle of staff ace this season. PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP Replacing The Cornerstones NC State Reloads After A Historic Campaign

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