NPC Softball

National Press Club

2008 Record: 9-5/No. 11 seed

2007 Record: 8-8

Coach: Jonathan Salant

Key Returning Players: IF/OF Sarahanne Driggs, 3B Frank Fuhrig, 1B/OF Mike Diegel, P Ryan Donmoyer.

Valuable New Additions: IF/OF Clay Kaufman, IF/OF Henry Brier, P/OF John Domen, 2B Dana Brown, C/OF Melissa Robinson, OF Ken Giglio.

Key To Success This Season: The addition of Brown enhancing an already strong female core, and the return of Clay Kaufman and wife Melissa Robinson, as well as Ken Giglio, who added depth and helped both offensively and defensively.

Likely Key to Success in the Tournament: “It depends on how many of our best players can make it,” says Salant. “We will be missing some key players, including Domen, our second pitcher; Staci Maiers and Ken Giglio. But we had only eight men show up when we defeated Team Video and AP on the last day of the season to make the playoffs, so if we have good players at the most important positions, we’ll be competitive. The other key is that we need to bring our A game defensively.”

Team Other Than Your Own You Think Will Win the 2008 Tourney: WRC

Fun Fact: Big Blue notched two huge wins over Team Video and AP on Final Day to earn its way into postseason.

The Skinny: If this bunch can get past Allbritton in its first game of the day, watch out. Won’t get rattled in low-scoring matchups, and its female players are a good bet to come up big.