After a year of uncertainty, this spring the State University of New York at New Paltz's softball team will look to recapture the success of its 2019 campaign.
 
With a goal of limiting travel being at the forefront, the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) will divide member schools into two divisions for 2021 competition. Schools will primarily participate in games against opponents from within their own division. SUNY New Paltz was placed in the East Division, which also consists of SUNY Cortland, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Plattsburgh and SUNY Potsdam. The West Division features five schools as well.
 
The Hawks saw success in their last full season of competition, finishing 26-12 while clinching a spot in the SUNYAC Tournament. The tournament was where the road stopped for then first-year head coach Kyrsti Maronski's squad however, when losses to SUNY Geneseo and Oswego State sent the Hawks home before having the opportunity to clinch the program's first conference championship. They did not receive a chance at redemption in 2020 due to the effects of COVID-19. The team's only games last spring came by way of an early season road-trip to southern New Jersey, where they dropped two out of four matchups against Rutgers University-Camden and Rowan University. 
The 2021 season will consist of several doubleheaders, beginning with the Hawks taking a trip to Cortland to compete against the Red Dragons. SUNY New Paltz has struggled historically against the Red Dragons, losing eight of the schools' last 10 meetings. One of those victories came in a two game series split in their last meeting on April 7, 2019. SUNY New Paltz will conclude the 2021 regular season at home May 5, also against SUNY Cortland.
 
In what will be a busy stretch for the program, the Hawks will play four contests in the following week. First, on April 10, the team will take a trip north to compete against SUNY Plattsburgh. The two squads have traded victories in recent years with their last meeting being a series split in 2019. Maronski and company will then welcome the Cardinals to New Paltz on April 28.
 
SUNY New Paltz's home slate will begin April 14 against SUNY Oneonta. The last game between the Hawks and Red Dragons came in the SUNYAC Tournament that resulted in a competitive, 7-6 SUNY New Paltz win. On April 24, the Red Dragons and Hawks will finish their home-and-home series in Oneonta, facing off once more at Red Dragons Softball Field.
 
The team will then open up a four-game road-trip, starting with SUNY Potsdam April 17. When the SUNY New Paltz last faced the Bears, they earned some redemption from the following year and handily swept its 2019 series at Mary Grey Deanne Field, 11-3 (six innings) and 7-1, respectively. The Hawks will take on Potsdam again at home May 1 for an afternoon doubleheader.
 
The 2021 SUNYAC Softball Tournament will take place May 8 through May 15. The top two teams from each division will compete in a best-of-three series in the semifinal and championship rounds.
 
To view the full 2021 softball schedule, click here.
 
To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks, Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.