Wednesday, February 03, 2010

MACON, Ga. – As the 2010 NCAA Division I Softball season approaches, the Atlantic Sun Conference takes a look at each team leading up to the start of the season. Today, the spotlight shines on Jacksonville.

Overview
Jacksonville returns nine starters, four pitchers, and 17 of 20 letterwinners from the 2009 season, in which the Dolphins battled through several injuries to tally an overall record of 24-31 and an A-Sun mark of 7-13, the second-best record in school history. Head coach Amanda Lehotak enters her fourth season with the Dolphins, having collected an overall record of 60-113 while at Jacksonville. This season, JU hopes to return to postseason play for the third time since 2005. In the 2009 A-Sun Tournament in DeLand, Fla, the Green and Gold fell to league foe Campbell, 5-1. The Dolphins tallied a home record of 9-14 at the JU Softball Complex in Jacksonville, Fla.

Top Returners
Katie Kelly earned Preseason All-Conference honors after leading the Dolphins offensively for the second consecutive season. The junior infielder tallied a .327 batting average (56-171), a .404 on-base percentage and scored a team-best 30 runs, to go along with recording 43 of her 56 hits at the leadoff spot in the lineup and tallied a team-high 17 multi-hit games. Kelly also became the first player in Jacksonville history to receive Louisville Slugger/NFCA First-Team All-Region accolades.

Top hitter Ashley Mora enters the spring season after a phenomenal junior campaign with the Dolphins, during which Mora appeared in 49 games, including 45 starts and played at four different positions during the season. The Castro Valley, Calif. native ranked first on the team with 25 RBIs and two triples, while finishing third on the squad in hits with 37, in addition to collecting seven multi-RBI games. Mora also earned Academic All-Conference honors and recognition on the President’s Honor Roll for her work in the classroom.

Top pitcher Ashley Iveson returns from a successful 2009 campaign in which the senior made 33 appearances, including 22 starts in the circle. Iveson posted career bests in wins (10) and strikeouts (108) in 130.2 innings, while finishing with a 1.61 ERA with 52 strikeouts in the final 10 games. The Kissimmee, Fla. native tossed a career-best eight complete games. On March 20, Iveson earned A-Sun Pitcher of the Week accolades after posted a 3-0 mark with a 2.02 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 17.1 innings.

In the circle, sophomore pitcher Sarah Sigrest led the staff in wins (12), ERA (2.35) and strikeouts (134) en route to earning A-Sun All-Freshman honors in 2009. Sigrest appeared in 32 games as a pitcher, including 22 starts. The Daphne, Ala. native’s wins total ranks tied for third in the single-season records, while her ERA and inning pitched ranks fourth. Sigrest also finished last season with the second-lowest walks per seven innings average (1.52), recorded a team-best 15 complete-games and two saves, struck out five or more batters in 13 contests and allowed one run or less in nine of her last 13 appearances.

Newcomers
Freshman Sarah Simon will have the chance to see a lot of time behind the plate in 2010. Simon, a three-year starter at River Ridge High School in New Port Richey, Fla., batted .475 with 30 RBIs as a senior en route to earning First-Team All-State, All-Conference, All-North SunCoast, All-Sun Coast and All-County honors. As a junior, Simon led the state with 48 RBIs and batted .514 at the plate to help her team secure the district championship.

Sophomore Melissa Morales is expected to split time with junior transfer Annike Don at second base this season. Don spent the last two seasons at Miami Dade College where she batted .285 with nine RBIs and 14 runs scored as a sophomore en route to earning Second-Team All-Conference accolades.

The right field position is wide open as freshmen Morgan Kibler and Lauren Even will be battling for that piece of real estate alongside veterans Kelly McKeon and Amanda Schmidt. Kibler earned four consecutive Lancaster-Lebanon League All-Star honors and team MVP accolades in her final two seasons at Donegal High School. As a senior, the Marietta, Pa. native earned Second-Team All-State honors after leading the Indians to sectional and district championships.

Even, a softball and basketball standout at Lake Worth Christian in Greenacres, Fla., earned First-Team All-Area and All-State honors each year. Even batted .416 with three home runs, 12 RBIs and 14 stolen bases as a junior.

Newcomer Olivia Kline may see time offensively in the lineup for the pitcher position. The Trinity, Fla. native set the school record for home runs at James W. Mitchell High School and collected defensive MVP honors during her final three seasons. As a junior, Kline batted .476 with 46 RBIs and nine home runs, while posting a 1.76 ERA in the circle.

Schedule (Courtesy Jacksonville Media Relations)
The Dolphins, who return 14 players from last season, have a tough slate ahead of them as JU plays seven teams from the NCAA Tournament, including national runner-up Florida. They will also be tested towards the end of the season with five straight road games before the Atlantic Sun Tournament.

Jacksonville opens the 2010 season against UNC Greensboro and Bethune Cookman on the first day of its home tournament. JU will also host Drexel and ACC power Virginia Tech before playing UNC Greensboro on Valentine’s Day to close the tournament.

After traveling to play Florida on Wednesday, Feb. 17, the Dolphins host the Presbyterian Blue Hose for a three-game series from Feb. 20-21. JU will play Florida State in a single game at home on Wednesday, Feb. 24, which also kicks off the Dolphins’ A-Sun.TV schedule.

Jacksonville will compete in the Coastal Carolina Tournament against Eastern Kentucky, Canisius, DePaul and the host Chanticleers starting on Friday, Feb. 26. JU opens the month of March against Memphis, St. Joseph’s, Temple, Austin Peay and Loyola-Chicago at the USF/Under Armour Tournament in Clearwater, Fla. (March 5-7).

JU hosts Toledo for a doubleheader at home (March 10) before playing Syracuse, Western Kentucky, Iowa, Charleston Southern and the Hokies again in their final tournament at Florida Atlantic, starting March 12.

Other non-conferences games include Florida A&M (March 17), Georgia Southern (March 20) and Bethune Cookman (April 14). Jacksonville will take trips to Savannah State (March 20) and UCF (May 4) before beginning its 20-game A-Sun schedule in Fort Myers, Fla. against Florida Gulf Coast on March 25. JU will play Belmont (April 1) and Lipscomb (April 2) at home before heading across town to face UNF on April 6.

After finishing the home conference schedule against ETSU and USC Upstate, Jacksonville ends the year with four straight A-Sun road games against Campbell, Kennesaw State, Mercer and Stetson beginning April 17.

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11 Days of Atlantic Sun Softball Schedule
Jan. 28 – Belmont
Jan. 29 – Stetson
Feb. 1 – ETSU
Feb. 2 – Kennesaw State
Feb. 3 – Jacksonville
Feb. 4 – UNF
Feb. 5 – USC Upstate
Feb. 8 – Mercer
Feb. 9 – Lipscomb
Feb. 10 – FGCU
Feb. 11 – Campbell