Saint Mary-of-the-Woods softball has a strong track record of success with keeping talent from Terre Haute "home" to contribute to the successful tradition of the program.
That has remained true these past two seasons as the Pomeroys have made a strong first impression at the NAIA level.
Four Wabash Valley products will be in the starting lineup today in the NAIA Opening Round against No. 8 Georgia Gwinnett with several more possibly coming off the bench. Action begins at 12:30 p.m. Visit the Championship Central web page.
Shortstop Jaselyn Conn (Terre Haute, Ind./TH North) has put together a solid junior season, earning honorable-mention All River States Conference. She'll be without her usual middle-infield partner Camryn Scott, who has begun chasing her professional dreams outside athletics. But freshman Abbi Henderson (Rockville, Ind./Parke Heritage) steps in for Scott, bringing similar speed to the Pomeroys lineup.
"It's a mental challenge, but we can get through it. She did help us out a lot during the season, but I still think that we're strong enough to keep going on without her," Conn said.
Conn, Rylee Pender (Terre Haute, Ind./TH North) and first-team All-RSC first baseman Lyric Krause (West Terre Haute, Ind./West Vigo) have put together solid seasons, as has freshman outfielder/pitcher Jasmine Kinzer (Terre Haute, Ind./TH South).
"Having an experienced starting lineup does help us out quite a bit. Being back to regionals a second year in a row, it's pretty special," Pender said. NOTABLES
The Pomeroys enter NAIA play among the NAIA leaders in a variety of offensive categories.

• 1^st in stolen bases with a school-record 197
• 19^th in batting average with a team average of .339
• 29^th in on-base percentage at .399
• 23^rd in slugging percentage with a mark of .480
• 13^th in doubles with 94
• 31^st in home runs with 29
• Seventh in fielding percentage with a mark of .975

Individually, several players are also among the top in the nation:

• Scott's 50 stolen bases rank fourth in NAIA
• Tori Lee is one of just two players to rank in the top 30 in both home runs and stolen bases. She's 21^st with 10 home runs and 28^th with 34 stolen bases.
• Lee's 17 doubles also rank 31^st.
• Freshman Jaleigh Crawford's .392 batting average ranks 129^th.
• Lee's .695 slugging percentage ranks 45^th.