No. 24 Lady Eagles Host Queens on Saturday to Open 2010 Season
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. Duplicating last seasons success will not be an easy task for the Carson-Newman softball team. The Lady Eagles went 32-17 in 2009 and won their ninth Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament title on their way to the programs first-ever trip to the NCAA Division II Southeast Super Regional championship.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — Duplicating last season’s
success will not be an easy task for the Carson-Newman softball
team.
The Lady Eagles went 32-17 in 2009 and won their ninth Food Lion
South Atlantic Conference Tournament title on their way to the
program’s first-ever trip to the NCAA Division II Southeast
Super Regional championship.
But with seven starters returning from a year ago, the 24th-ranked
Lady Eagles have plenty of pieces in place to have another
successful campaign in 2010.
“When you have seven returning players, we think that will
help us in the long run,” said C-N head coach Vickee
Kazee-Hollifield, who enters her 25th season at Mossy Creek.
“We’ve got good chemistry and a lot of kids that got a
lot of playing time last year, so we think that will work in our
favor.”
“Naturally (getting back to the Super Regionals) is
something that we strive to get back to. Once you reach something
like that, anything less you feel a little iffy about. We know that
we have to come back and work extremely hard, even within our
conference, to get back to what we accomplished there.”
C-N will begin its quest for a sixth-straight NCAA Tournament
appearance when it opens the season on Saturday in a doubleheader
against Queens. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. at the Lady Eagle
Softball Complex.
The Lady Eagles, who are the preseason favorite to repeat as SAC
champions, return five preseason All-SAC selections.
Leading the way are senior first baseman Sarah Little (Calhoun,
Ga.) and senior shortstop Jessie Howard (Knoxville, Tenn.), who are
both preseason second team All-SAC honorees.
“We have two returners in (Little and Howard) that have
started since their freshman year,” Hollifield said.
“They provide great leadership on and off the field. They
will both be asked to really help us out offensively. They are just
complete ball players. We would like for them to go out in
style.”
Little, who was a first team Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Southeast
Region and second team Daktronics All-Southeast Region performer in
2009, batted .346 for the Lady Eagles last season and led the
conference in both home runs (12) and RBIs (53).
Howard garnered first team Daktronics All-Southeast Region honors
a year ago after leading the team with a .378 batting average and
ranking first in the SAC in triples (six) and runs scored (49). She
was also second in the conference in steals with 24 in 26 attempts
and third in hits with 62.
Preseason first team All-SAC selections Leah Price (Spring City,
Tenn.) and Whitney Kee (Knoxville, Tenn.), who are both juniors,
will hold down the starting jobs in left field and at third base,
respectively.
Kee ranked among the conference leaders in runs scored (33), walks
(23) and on-base percentage (.458) last season, while Price hit
.349 and was among the SAC leaders with 16 stolen bases.
Junior outfielder Whitney Durham (Rossville, Ga.), a preseason
second team All-SAC selection, hit .336 with 38 RBIs a year
ago.
The Lady Eagles will have several new faces in their pitching
rotation this season, but sophomore Mary Shealy (Clinton, S.C.)
returns to lead the staff. Shealy compiled a 15-10 record with a
2.04 ERA in 2009. She led the league in shutouts (eight) and ranked
fourth in complete games (19), sixth in opponent batting average
(.240) and seventh in strikeouts (93). Shealy, who will also see
time at first base, ranked third in the SAC in doubles (14) and
fourth in RBIs (44).
“Mary came in and gave everything she had last year,”
Hollifield said. “She really has worked hard over the summer.
To me she looks totally different. With her game experience, I
think it’s going to make her a lot stronger. She is really
pitching pretty well right now.”
East Tennessee State transfer Ashley Boyd (Chattanooga, Tenn.), a
junior right-hander, and freshman Jennifer Long (Chattanooga,
Tenn.) will also figure into C-N’s pitching rotation this
season.
Junior Amber Hewitt (Ringgold, Ga.) returns at second base for the
Lady Eagles. Hewitt started all 49 games for C-N a year ago and
produced three doubles, 18 RBIs and 22 runs scored. Freshman Sarah
Humphries (Fayetteville, Tenn.) will also see time at second.
The Lady Eagles will be very inexperienced at catcher this season
with freshman Bri Shoemake (Ooltewah, Tenn.) and sophomore Ashlee
Dillard (Roanoke, Va.) expected to handle the duties behind the
plate.
Sophomore Amy Lawrence (Knoxville, Tenn.) and freshman Ashley
Tharp (Morristown, Tenn.) will be expected to provide backup at
first and third base, respectively.
Joining Durham and Price in the outfield will be sophomores
Cassidy Skeen (Powell, Tenn.), a Tennessee Tech transfer, and Kim
Whaley (Maryville, Tenn.), who batted .261 with three doubles and
six RBIs for C-N last season.
The Lady Eagles will open SAC play on March 20 at Catawba and will
close out the regular season on April 17 at Wingate. The 2010 Food
Lion SAC Tournament will begin on April 27.
Hollifield said her team better be prepared for a tough conference
slate.
“If you don’t lace them up tight and be ready to play,
then you can get beat on any given day,” she said. “I
think we always have a target on our back. People love to beat
Carson-Newman. We better show up and be ready to play.”
