DURHAM, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University softball team will enter the new season with its youngest squad in a few years, but with expectations to exceed last year's runner-up finish in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Softball Championship tournament.
 
Second-year head coach Cat Tarvin has brought in eight new players to replace a big senior class of eight players from last season. Those newcomers will join 11 letter winners that helped lead the Eagles to their first appearance in the championship game of the league tourney since joining the conference in 2011-12.
 
NCCU softball has had a winning conference record every season Tarvin has been at NCCU, including her time as an assistant with the Eagles. However, Tarvin does not just want the team to compete for of a league championship, but for the Eagles to achieve that success and to set their beliefs higher and to strive to make a bigger impact in non-conference play as well as make MEAC and program history with success past the league tourney.
 
Tarvin will rely on a pair of new assistant coaches to help fulfill the expectations of the team. Jaimie Hoover joins the staff after finishing up her playing career at University of Florida and she will be working mostly with the hitters and outfielder while graduate assistant and former Eagle Kaitlyn Macon will be working with the catchers and serve as a team motivator with her high energy level.
 
The group of 19 Eagles are slated to play a 46-game schedule in 2022 beginning on Feb. 11 before returning to the MEAC Softball Championship tournament in Norfolk, Virginia in May (2022 NCCU Softball Schedule Release).
 
Fans will see the biggest change with NCCU's pitching staff with the departure of two seniors, including a two-time All-MEAC selection that hurled 64-percent of NCCU's innings the past three seasons. 
 
The focus in the pitcher's circle will now be centered around a pair of freshmen in Ashanti Eubanks (Summerville, S.C.) and Anisa Reynolds (Chandler, Ariz.), who are both power arms for the Eagles. Sophomore Jaylah Barr (Batesburg-Leesville, S.C.) and freshman Jaden Davis (Knightdale, N.C.) will add depth to NCCU's staff, but they will see most of their time covering the middle infield positions for the Eagles.
 
Barr joins senior Madison Mifsud (Jacksonville, Fla.), junior Maegan Garrison (Harrisburg, N.C.) and sophomore Hailey Batista (Mebane, N.C.) as 2022 Preseason All-MEAC Softball Team honorees (2022 NCCU Softball Preseason Award Winners Release).
 
Mifsud and Batista will share catching duties for the Eagles to complete NCCU's battery. Mifsud has the most experience for the Eagles having played in 89 games already and she batted a career-high .311 last season before missing the last 15 games due to injury. Batista is NCCU's top returning power bat after supplying 23 RBI and 21 runs last season. Batista was named team MVP after collecting 15 extra-base hits and garnering MEAC All-Tournament Team honors.
 
As the two players rotate behind the dish, Mifsud will see time mostly as the designated player when Batista is catching and Batista, who can play anywhere on the field, will primarily be at first base when Mifsud is in the catcher's gear.
 
Senior Madison Webb (Kannapolis, N.C.) joins Mifsud as the only other senior on the team. Tarvin believes Webb has made big strides in her game and has worked hard enough to we see opportunities at first base and as the designated player while bringing veteran leadership in her fourth season at NCCU. Batista, Webb and sophomore Kortnee Booth (Palatka, Fla) will be filling in the vacancy at first base left by the graduation of a First Team All-MEAC honoree.
 
Barr, who batted .294 in league play and recorded all five of her extra-base hits in NCCU's last eight games in the month of May, and Davis are expected staples in the middle infield. That will push Garrison over to the hot corner. Garrison, who has started in 54 of 55 games the last two seasons, played mostly as shortstop the last couple of years, but will be seeing more time at third base this year.
 
NCCU's preseason honorees are expected to fill up the middle power portion of NCCU's lineup with Batista, Barr, Mifsud and Garrison commonly following each other into the batter's box in that order.
 
The Eagles will have a new look in the outfield this season with the graduation of two senior outfielder including another All-MEAC selection, and with sophomore Imara Harrell (Mooresville, N.C.) expected to be out a while with injury.
 
Junior Diamond Porter (Riegelwood, N.C.) filled in mostly at second base the last two seasons, but will be returning to the outfield and will patrol centerfield mostly. Her speed and feistiness at the plate will also make her NCCU's leadoff hitter a bunch. Batista is also a utility player that can roam the outfield when needed.
 
Tarvin has a big group of eight other youthful outfielders competing for time on the grass for the maroon and gray.
 
A trio of freshmen in Jai'lyn Edwards (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), Jaidyn Hamby (Fontana, Calif.) and Kia Borum (Detroit, Mich.) are NCCU's rookie outfielders while a quartet of sophomores in transfer Riahna Jordan (Prince George, Va.) and second-year letter winners D'Nahjah Harrell (Mooresville, N.C.), Christy Burroughs (Greenville, S.C.) and Natalie Hardin (Winston-Salem, N.C.) all look to build off their freshman collegiate campaigns.
 
Edwards and Hamby, who have experience playing and learning the game together out on the West Coast, are expected to bring some quality bats to the lineup and will see a good chunk of the time at the corner outfield positions. Edwards may take over the second slot in the lineup and Hamby's speed will be a weapon for the Eagles. However, every player on the roster is expected to contribute and will fill in as needed.
 
Jordan, who comes to NCCU after playing one season at University of Mary Washington, and Burroughs can fill in at DP when not in the outfield. That designated player position will be filled by several Eagles. Tarvin plans to use her DP's at the bottom of the order on a lineup that she believes does not have a hole in it and will help turn the lineup over to set the table over again and again.
 
The Eagles will have a lot of speed on the bench for whichever players are not in the lineup. Jordan, Borum and Hardin are all expected to be key contributors as pinch runners as well.

As a young team, Tarvin is really excited with the team chemistry and believes that combined with the talent on the team that the Eagles can achieve greatness this season.
  
From players to coaches, everyone is buying into the Ubuntu belief of 'I am because we are' so that when you win we all win.
 
NC Central will begin its season with four games at the Spartan Classic hosted by USC Upstate on Friday-Saturday, Feb. 11-12 (Full Schedule). The schedule is subject to change.
 
For more information about NCCU softball and the most up-to-date schedule throughout the season, visit NCCUEaglePride.com or download the NCCU Eagles Athletics app.