BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University softball team starts its 2022 season on Sunday, February 27 with non-conference games versus Finlandia (Mich.) University and Rosemont College at the Spring Games in Clermont, Florida.

Head Coach John Byrne, who enters his 29th campaign just six wins shy of 900 for his career with an 894-252 mark, has nine returning players from last year's Landmark Conference Championship squad that was 31-3 a year ago. The group of student-athletes back for the Hounds includes six that garnered postseason accolades.

Leading the returnees is senior catcher Brooke Wehr, who was named as a 2021 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III Third Team All-American and as the 2021 Landmark Conference Player of the Year as she made the All-Conference First Team for the third time, twice as a catcher in 2021 and 2019 and as an outfielder in 2018. Wehr is also a three-time NFCA All-Atlantic Region Honoree, making the Second Team in 2021 and the Third Team in 2018 and 2019. She has a .405 career batting average in 124 games as she has gone 177-for-437 at the plate, ranking tenth in program history for hits. Wehr also has 142 runs scored, tied for second in school history, 31 doubles, eight triples, 29 home runs, tied for second all-time, 122 RBIs, fourth in program history, a .456 on-base percentage and a .712 slugging percentage. She also has 30 walks, 16 stolen bases, 311 total bases, fifth all-time, 335 putouts and 25 assists.

Senior infielder Maddisen Bieber, who was the 2019 Landmark Conference Player of the Year while making the All-Conference First Team in 2019 and 2021, has a .366 career batting average with 136 hits, 96 runs, 21 doubles, five homers, 61 RBIs, 32 walks, a .425 on-base percentage and a .462 slugging percentage in 127 career games. Bieber, who made the NFCA All-Region Second Team in 2019, has 162 putouts and 263 assists in 456 chances in the field in her career with 19 double plays.

Junior pitcher Madison Hummel was the 2021 Landmark Conference Pitcher of the Year, and she was also selected to the Landmark All-Conference First Team and the NFCA All-Atlantic Region First Team last year. Hummel was 15-2 last season with a 1.66 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 105.2 innings over 19 appearances, and she has 52 career strikeouts, two saves, a 1.59 ERA and a 15-2 mark in 21 career appearances including 18 starts.

Senior shortstop Alexis Agrapides earned a spot on the Landmark All-Conference First Team and the NFCA All-Atlantic Region Third Team a year ago. She has a .368 career batting average with 57 hits, 40 runs, nine doubles, a triple, six homers and 40 RBIs in 44 career games after 44 hits, 32 runs, 30 RBIs and a .373 average in 2021. Senior outfielder Victoria Smith garnered All-Conference First Team accolades last season as she hit .385 with 40 hits, 23 runs, three doubles and 14 RBIs. Smith has 48 career hits with 32 runs, three doubles, 18 RBIs and a .372 average in 57 career contests. Sophomore designated player Emily Silberman was named to the Landmark All-Conference Second Team last spring as she had a .474 batting average, 27 hits, four runs, a pair of doubles, three homers and 21 RBIs in her debut season.

Also returning for the Greyhounds to add depth to the roster are senior outfielder Cameron Cassidy, sophomore utility player Ajala Elmore and senior pitcher Robin McCabe. Cassidy has 61 career hits with a .330 average, 37 runs, eight doubles, three triples and 28 RBIs while Elmore added 13 hits, 13 runs, two doubles, two triples, a homer and 14 RBIs in 2021. McCabe has made three career appearances and has three strikeouts in 2.1 innings of action.

Coach Byrne, Bieber and Wehr discuss the 2022 season and their preparations in a preview video below.