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6/5/2009 - SOFTBALL
Softball Players Head Overseas to Continue Career
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MACON, Ga. - Mercer graduates Cassy Neilson and Lacey Richardson and Belmont's Sammi Parks are extending their softball careers as members of the playing in the Austrian Softball League.
Cassy Neilson and Lacey Richardson are extending their softball careers as members of the Stockerau Rag Dolls, playing in the Austrian Softball League. Mercer assistant coach Joni Frei is also spending the summer in Austria, as an assistant coach of the Dornbirn Sharx.
The Rag Dolls and Sharx compete in the six-team Austrian Softball League. The Sharx have captured the Austrian Championship seven consecutive years dating back to 2002.
"I'm excited for this opportunity," Frei said. "I'm looking forward to experiencing a different style of softball than I have become accustomed to during my time as a player and coach in the U.S."
Parks, a four-year starter for the Bruins, Parks holds the single-season strikeout record during the Division I era with 169 in 2007. In 2009, Parks led the Bruin pitching staff with 117 strikeouts and is one of just eight players to reach triple digits in strikeouts in a single season.
Parks is competing for the Vienna Mosquitoes -- a member of the six-team semiprofessional Austrian Softball League
The teams will vie for a chance to compete in the European Championship, scheduled for July 27- Aug. 1 in Valencia, Spain. The teams will also participate in the European Cup, scheduled to start on Sept. 1 in regional sites around Europe.
