SIGNAL PEAK — With eight returners on her 17-player roster, Central Arizona College softball coach Shelby Davis will be counting heavily on their leadership for a successful 2020 season.

"That's what we had when we went to nationals (in 2017 for the first time since 2005)," Davis said. "Due to the nature of (a long) schedule, you're going to have some lows. The sophomores know what to expect. They need to focus on being strong leaders."

The Vaqueras went 44-17 in 2019. They were the No. 3 seed in the Division I Region 1 tournament, where they fell in the title round for the second straight year. After losing three key players to injury in the first inning of its first game of the tourney, Central still managed to knock off No. 2 seed Yavapai and top-seeded Arizona Western on the first day before dropping 7-2 and 5-2 decisions to Western in the championship round.

Davis said versatility will be a strength for this year's team, which opens Friday with three games in Henderson, Nevada. That will allow her to alter the lineup depending on who has the hot bat and who is slumping.

"We've got a lot of players who can play multiple positions," she said.

The pitchers are returners Trinity Valentine and Devan Dickson, along with freshman Sarah Norton. Valentine went 16-8 with a 3.93 ERA in 31 appearances (26 starts) and Dickson was 3-2 with a 5.77 ERA in eight appearances (four starts) before sustaining a season-ending injury.

Among the projected position starters are returners Sonia Solis and Danielle Farinas in the outfield, Nicol Ley at third base and Isabel Gallo at catcher. Solis (.409 batting average, 45 RBIs, 17 doubles, team-leading six home runs) and Ley (.412, 40 RBIs) were all-Arizona Community College Athletic Conference third-team selections. Farinas batted .365 with 26 RBIs, and Gallo batted .227 with 10 RBIs.

Ariday Lopez (.423, 36 RBIs) was last year's regular second baseman, but she is still recovering from a knee injury and will likely be limited to designated player duties.

Probable freshmen starters are Chloe Krason at first base, Alyssa Madrid at second and Destiny Vazquez in the outfield. Sophomore transfer Serrina Cabral is the likely starter at shortstop.

Infielder Michaela Kittredge (.327, 10 RBIs) is CAC's other returner.

Rounding out the roster are former Casa Grande Union players Amaya Dasti and Kirsta Wright, and former Vista Grande players Angelina Reyes and Lainey Gonzales. All four are outfielders, with Reyes also being the backup catcher.

Division II Phoenix went 52-9 overall and finished first in the ACCAC standings with a 43-5 mark and took second at nationals, losing 10-5 to LSU-Eunice in the title game. None of the other seven D-II teams had winning records, either overall or in conference play.

The Vaqueras went 1-3 against Phoenix and lost five other games to D-II teams.

"One thing we have to do better is be more consistent and beat the teams we should beat," Davis said. "We had some bad losses last year."

Western went 40-8 against ACCAC opponents and 53-12 overall. The Matadors lost their first two games in the NJCAA Tournament. The other D-I teams (four make the region playoffs) are Yavapai (46-14, 37-11 ACCAC), CAC (35-13 conference), Pima (30-28, 25-23) and Eastern Arizona (28-29, 24-24).

The Vaqueras' home and conference opener is a Feb. 4 doubleheader against Mesa.

Davis was the No. 1 catcher for Central in 2005 when the Vaqueras captured their 11th and most recent national title. She is 141-85 (.624) heading into her fifth season as CAC's coach.