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Casis Garners National Honor

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By BART O'CONNELL Tribune correspondent

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 14, 2009

ST. LEO - For only the second time in Saint Leo softball history, a player has been named the Division II National Player of the Week by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

It's no surprise that that player was SS Tatiana Casis, who has been tearing up opposing pitching since the season began. And last week was probably her best seven-game stretch of the season. The first was P Katie Heintz in 2006.
Casis hit .636 (14 of 22) with four homers, 18 RBIs and nine runs in those games, slugging a beyond-robust 1.318 and even notching two stolen bases in as many attempts.

She went 7-for-7 with three home runs and 13 RBIs in a doubleheader against Salem International, but she also had two hits apiece in games against No. 4 Francis Marion and No. 18 Lenoir-Rhyne before smacking a game-winning three-run homer against Newberry.

For the season, Casis is emerging as a legitimate threat to win the Sunshine State Conference triple crown, leading the league in both home runs (11) and RBIs (38), and standing fourth in batting average (.479) through Tuesday. And she is only three homers shy of her SSC-leading total of 14 last year, with 31 more games to play.

The Lions (14-10, 1-2 SSC) opened a three-game SSC series at Lynn on Friday.

LACROSSE ROLLING: The Saint Leo lacrosse team (5-1, 2-0 Deep South) posted its first win against Catawba 12-8 on Thursday, the squad's fifth-consecutive win.

Ryan Pomponio had four goals for the Lions, who host Franklin Pierce at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

SWEET SIX-TENNIS: The women's tennis team reeled off their sixth consecutive win on Tuesday, breezing by Indianapolis at the SLU Tennis Center.

The 8-1 final matched the Lions' dominance in the previous four games of the streak, wins against St. Joseph, St. Thomas, Eckerd and St. Cloud State by the same margin. The first win in the streak was 6-3 against Tampa.

No. 1 singles player Lina Benkirane has the team's best record at 10-4 and is 4-1 with doubles partner Asmaa Tazi. Benkirane was on a six-match singles winning streak before a 6-3 loss to Flagler on Thursday.

RISS SETS RECORD: Golfer Anna Riss posted the lowest 54-hole tournament total in program history, carding a 227 (78-73-76) to finish seventh individually at the Peggy Kirk Bell Invitational in Winter Springs on Tuesday, shattering the school record by five strokes.

The team finished 11th in the tournament, but broke another school record with a 955 total, five strokes better than the previous mark set in 2007.

BASEBALL DOUBLEHEADER: The baseball team (8-15, 2-4 SSC) hosts Bentley College and American International College in two afternoon games today and one 1 p.m. game on Sunday. They beat Assumption College 12-6 on Wednesday and resume conference play on Friday against Lynn.

Bart O'Connell can be reached at tampasport@gmail.com.

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