Paying a collegiate softball visit to the variety store...



Mighty Mack

When it comes to debuts, no one has anything on Brittney Mackey and her first appearance as an Edinboro Fighting Scot.

All the former Edgewood standout did in her first appearance at the next level was throw a no-hitter, leading Edinboro to an 8-0 victory against Fayetteville State in Kissimmee, Fla.

The 2009 Edgewood graduate walked the first batter she faced, then allowed only one other baserunner (a fifth-inning walk) the rest of the way in hurling Edinboro to the win. Mackey struck out eight in the contest.

Edinboro, which dropped the nightcap Monday against 18th-ranked C.W. Post, 4-1, took on Indianapolis on Tuesday.



Dynamite Dragon

Speaking of former Edgewood stars, Megan Dragon is off to a blazing start at Gannon University.

The 2009 Star Beacon Ashtabula County Player of the Year played a big part in the Knights’ putting together a 7-5 record as they began their 2010 season in Florida.

In six appearances, Dragon went 4-1 with a save and a 1.75 earned run average. In 40 innings pitched, she allowed 36 hits, fanned 56 and walked eight.

Dragon fired four complete games for Gannon and limited opposing batters to a .229 batting average.

Gannon will play a doubleheader at Point Park on Saturday at 1 p.m.



Lightning’ Lauren

Yet another former Edgewood great, Lauren Childs, is a freshman outfielder at Davis & Elkins College.

Though Childs and her Senator teammates had a rough go of it, dropping their first seven games — two at the Best of the West Tournament in Turlock, Calif. and five at the Catawba Tournament in Salisbury, N.C. — they’ve gotten off the canvas nicely.

D& E swept a doubleheader at Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C. on Sunday to make it three wins in their last four outings as Childs produced two hits and had an RBI.

Childs and the rest of the Senators took on Meredith College in a twinbill in Raleigh on Tuesday.



Rolling along

And still another former Edgewood star, Trisha Dreslinski, has begun her second season as the starting shortstop at Division I Hofstra University and The Pride is off to a flying start.

Hofstra will take a 9-1 record when it gets back into action at the Louisville Invitational on Saturday, squaring off against the host school at noon. Dreslinski & Co. will then take on Michigan at 4 p.m., then come back Sunday for another game against Michigan and a rematch with the hosting Cardinals to wrap up the weekend.

Hofstra’s only blemish so far is an 8-0 loss to Florida State University.

The Pride went 5-0 to open the season at the USF/LaQuinta Tournament on Feb. 19-21 in Tampa, Fla., then went 4-1 at the NFCA Leadoff Classic on Feb. 26-28 in Columbus, Ga.



Terrific trio

Three former area standouts are also at the Division I level at Saint Francis University.

Sabrina Lane, a great player during her scholastic days at Conneaut, is the head coach and she has two fellow former local stars — Katie McMellen (Edgewood) and Courtney Francis (Jefferson) — playing for her.

Through 12 games, the Red Flash stood 3-9, having played at the First Pitch Classic at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, the Florida Gulf Coast Spring Break Invitational in Fort Meyer’s, Fla. and the Rebel Spring Games in Orlando.

Lane, McMellen and the rest of the Red Flash will get back at it at the UMBC Tournament in Catonville, Md. this weekend. Saint Francis will open against Bucknell at 2:15 p.m.

The trio will be back in Northeast Ohio when Saint Francis plays at Youngstown State on Thursday, March 18, first pitch set for 3 p.m.



Pair of Dragons

Two former Lakeside standouts — both 2009 graduates — are already making contributions at the next level.

Christina Hutchison is a freshman pitcher-third baseman at Notre Dame College.

Hutchison is 1-3 with a 4.57 ERA on the mound, while batting .333 with a double, triple and home run and 10 RBI at the plate.

The Falcons stand 6-11 after a spring trip that took them to Savannah, Ga. and Mobile, Ala.

Hutch & Co. will resume play March 20 in a doubleheader against visiting Findlay, first pitch set for 1 p.m.

At the College of Wooster, Eric Villa is a second baseman-outfielder.

Standing 3-1 after playing four games on their spring trip to Fort Myers, Fla., Villa is batting .444.

The Scots get back in action today in Florida, with games against Heidelberg and St. Mary’s, Ind.

Perry graduate Brooke Hobson is a teammate of Hutchison’s at Notre Dame.

The junior is hitting .500, with two hits in five trips to the plate for the Falcons and has driven in a pair of runs.



Hope floats

Hope Cowoski, a fine player during her high school days, and her Marietta College teammates are off to a 4-0 start.

They defeated Defiance, Webster, Dubuque and Misericordia at the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, Fla.

Cowoski, who lettered as a freshman and sophomore at Marietta, and her teammates played Aurora University Tuesday afternoon and will play games in sunny F-L-A through Friday.



Ready to go

Former Geneva great Brittany Stevenson will begin her freshman season at Malone University on March 18, when the Pioneers play a doubleheader at Mount Union, first pitch slated for 3 p.m.



Let me know, please

If your son or daughter is playing a spring sport at the collegiate level, please drop me a line via email listed at the end of this column.



McCormack is the sports editor of the Star Beacon. Reach him at donmac@suite224.net.