ALUMNI PLAYER WATCH
Joey Ehnes & Theresa Campbell ( MSU-Billings) - In her senior year at MSU-Billings, Joey continues to set records and reach milestones for the program. She is leading the conference in many categories and is having another great year. Theresa Campbell, also a Bison Alumni, continues her hot hitting for the YELLOWJACKETS!
Joey Ehnes (Sr., Great Falls, MT) is ranked in the top 20 in two pitching categories. She is eighth for victories with 22 and sixteenth for strikeouts per seven innings at 8.8. She earned her 22nd win last week, setting a new school record. She also eclipsed the 600 career strikeouts mark.
Theresa Campbell (Sr., Great Falls, MT) has homered in four of her last six games to jump to 24th nationally for home runs per game at 0.26. Her 10 home runs this season lead the PacWest Conference and are a new school record. She is also 42nd in the nation for slugging percentage at .698.
Carrie Conners ( Walla Walla Community College)-
March 20
Lower Columbia topped Walla Walla 7-3 in the NWAACC Pre-Season tournament on Sunday at TRAC Complex in Pasco. Leanne Foster hit a two run homerun in the fourth inning to lead the Warrior attack. Jennifer Davis drove in the Warriors other run in the sixth inning with a two out single that brought Carrie Conners across the plate. Conners was named to the All-Tournament team for her performance over the weekend. Walla Walla is now 5W-3L on the season.
The Warriors followed that up by coming out on top of a 12-7 slugfest against Blue Mountain with three Warriors pounding out four hits each. Carrie Conners, Jennifer Davis, and Sarah Rivera each had four hits. Rivera connected for two homeruns in the first and third innings and had four RBI's in the contest while Conners added a solo shot of her own in the 5th inning. Walla Walla battered Blue Mountain's pitching for 19 hits on the afternoon.
Ashley Thatcher- Currently at Shasta College in Redding, California. Ashley has just signed a National Letter of Intent to attend Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, VA.
Hokie Softball Announces Signing ClassNovember 17, 2004
BLACKSBURG - The Virginia Tech softball staff announced its early
signing class Wednesday, a class that will enroll at Tech in the fall of 2005
and play its first season with the Hokies in 2006. Five players from five
different states make up the class that will be head coach Scot
Thomas' second recruiting class for the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Jessica Everhart, Erin Ota, Charisse Mariconda, Kelsy Rokey and Ashley
Thatcher combine to give Tech help behind the plate, in the circle, as well as
in the infield and outfield. "We are really excited about this class," Thomas said. "We
were looking to sign a very athletic class and I feel we accomplished that. We
signed good people, not just good softball players and that was important to us,
as well. We went after our top recruits, brought in only five players for
official visits, and all five signed. So in that aspect, we're very happy. We
look forward to getting them on campus and into Tech uniforms." Everhart is the lone Virginia product in the class. The projected outfielder
from Loudoun Valley High, the same school that produced former Tech player
Heather Todd, was named first-team All-Met as a utility player by The
Washington Post as a junior. Last season, Everhart, who played shortstop,
batted .636 from the leadoff spot and totaled 42 hits, 25 RBI and 33 runs
scored. She also was errorless in the field. She is also a two-time honorable
mention All-Met selection, and led her team to a AA state championship as a
sophomore. She was named second-team All-Dulles District as sophomore, a year
after earning first-team team honors as a freshman. She was also named
first-team Washington Post All-Extra as a sophomore. Ota is the second player in as many years to sign with Tech from the southern
California area as she hails from Irvine. The Northwood High star is a two-time
first-team All-Pacific Coast League selection, as well as a 2003 all-city team
choice. She also plays soccer and golf at Northwood, earning Pacific Coast
League honors in both sports. As a sophomore, Ota batted .310 with 20 runs
scored and 26 hits. She plays middle infield at Northwood, but has the speed to
play outfield in college. Mariconda is a Florida product from Hollywood who has the ability to play
anywhere for the Hokies. She will be given a shot at third base or shortstop.
The St. Thomas Aquinas High standout was named second-team All-Broward County as
an infielder for the 6A-4A divisions by The Miami Herald as a junior. She
was also named first-team All-Broward County as a sophomore at DH, where she
batted .412 with 28 RBI. Rokey comes to the Hokies from Tucson, Ariz., where she plays at Salpointe
Catholic High. She is a catcher who earned All-Southern Region honorable mention
honors for the class 4A-5A by The Arizona Daily Star. She also earned the
coach's award, and was named an AIA scholar-athlete and given the AIA honor roll
award. Thatcher is a junior college product who will have
two years of eligibility remaining once she enrolls. She is a native of Great
Falls, Mont., becoming the first softball player at Tech from that state. She is
currently attending Shasta College in Redding, Calif., where she was named to
the 2004 JuCal Transfer All State Fastpitch Softball Team. She was also named
the Golden Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year as the team's top pitcher,
leading the Knights in wins and had a 0.57 ERA. She also wielded a potent bat in
the middle of the Shasta batting order, finishing with a team-high eight home
runs. Thatcher helped lead Shasta to a league title after the Knights went 31-9
overall, 18-2 in GVC. At Great Falls High, she was named first-team
all-conference. The 2005 Hokie softball team will begin its inaugural season in the ACC
on Feb. 12, taking on Iowa in the Stetson Round Robin at DeLand, Fla.