NEWPORT NEWS (WAVY) – It’s almost business as usual for the Christoper Newport University softball team.  The Captains (27-7) are heading into their ninth straight NCAA Regional, and as Capital Athletic Conference regular season and tournament champions. 

“It’s definitely not an easy task,” said CNU head coach Keith Parr, speaking of the Captains’ postseason streak. “ It’s something that’s really a tribute to a lot of the hard work and the the amount of time that we’ve put in on an annual basis.” 

Parr, who’s been the head man for the past 12 seasons, was named the Conference Coach of the Year, while 17 of his players earned All-CAC honors, including short stop Brittany Walters (Grassfield High School, Chesapeake), pitcher Krista Lewis (Hickory High School, Chesapeake), and first baseman Sabrina Hill. 

Hill, a senior from Stafford, is just four home runs shy of breaking the school’s all-time record, and already owns a handful of others. “ She’s total base leader, career-wise, hits, RBIs…pretty much all the major power numbers,” said Parr. 

And all of those numbers, she practically earned on one leg.  Her sophomore season was marked with a torn ACL, which she played with even through her junior season. 

She says she slightly “panicked” when she first heard the news of her ACL, but “just ignored it,” and has since had surgery to repair it almost a year ago.  Parr believes the home run record would have been well taken care of had his team not had nine games cancelled due to the harsh Winter weather that plagued Hampton Roads.