After a season that concluded in a sub-par .500 record and missing out on the district playoffs, the Salisbury softball team needed a change.

Enter newly hired head coach Jeff Appleman. Appleman, who was an assistant at Allen and coaches at the club level for North West Explosion, takes over after Salisbury went 7-10 in the Colonial League and failed to get back to that same district stage it did two years ago. He replaces Ken Choquette and will be assisted by Marissa Vitale, a Liberty graduate, and Robbie Schappell.

There’s also plenty of change to adapt to on the field with the graduations of three seniors from the Falcons’ 2015 team. Shortstop Meghan Williams, now playing at Penn State, is the biggest loss after batting a team-leading .383 with 14 RBIs last year. Catcher Thayla Creswell and former third baseman Melissa Kugler are also gone.

But other than those three losses, the Falcons bring back a core group from last spring. And while they may be young and somewhat inexperienced, they’re ready to get back to that winning mentality.

“They started a lot of freshman last year and now they’re sophomores starting,” Appleman said. “They are young and inexperienced. Once we get them up to speed we’ll be pretty good.”

The main returning piece is Rachel Costantini, who batted .381, led Salisbury with 19 RBIs last year and scored 15 runs. She’ll take over the catching duties with Creswell gone. Anna Bishop (.381 and 12 RBIs), Lil Crouthamel and Morgan Goletz return after seeing significant varsity time under Choquette. Katie Gilligan and Emily Batman are both expected to have solid years in the infield.

“We look good in practice,” Appleman said. “The kids are great and they all get along. We seemed to be getting better. We had a scrimmage on Tuesday [against Tamaqua] and won 4-3 in eight innings. I’m optimistic. I think we’ll be competitive, which is what I want.”

Junior Brooke Rogers (5-5 with a 3.72 ERA and 36 strikeouts) will be the Falcons’ ace on the mound. A year ago, her and Laura Costello shared that role. But Costello is no longer at Salisbury, and Rogers will look to build off her performance against Tamaqua where she allowed just four hits. She also batted .354 at the plate.

“It was a close game and I thought the other team was trying to go for the win,” Appleman said. “So I’m trying to develop a mindset here of winning. This team had a losing record last year and didn’t make districts. We’re trying to get in their heads that you can win these games. They must have lost how many one-run games last year, a ton of them. To pull one out and do it with the international tiebreaker in extra innings is pretty good.”

Salisbury lost five games by one run last year and eight of its 11 losses were by two runs or less.

Replacing some of those bats from last year, particularly Williams, will be one of the focal points this season. In addition to the returning experienced players, a number of athletes, including senior Sarah Reilly and junior Holly Bruns, return to the field after taking a year off from varsity softball.

“Megan was a big bat last year,” Appleman said. “But we have some girls who stopped playing softball two years ago that came out for the team now. I think I’m counting on them to help solidify it. I think for us to go nine deep will really help.”

Reilly is expected to play in the infield where two of those graduates left voids, while Bruns will play outfield.

“It’s a very athletic group,” Appleman said. “It’s just a matter of getting Sarah back up to softball speed. Holly is another one. Getting two kids to come out as athletes and they come right in. Holly knocked in the winning run of that scrimmage.”

Salisbury opens the season with six games in eight days, including Monday’s opener against Dieruff. Their Colonial League slate begins with Pen Argyl the following day.