Oct. 4, 2006
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech softball team will play the first of three fall games this Friday, Oct. 6, against Wallace Dothan Community College. The 14-inning game will be played at Glenn Field and first pitch is slated for 2 p.m.
“Fall practices are going well,” said first-year Tech coach Sharon Perkins. “I am impressed with the players that have stepped up and accepted the leadership role. The players have been improving in all aspects of their game and we are looking forward to playing outside competition.
“The fall games are nice for our hitters to be able to face new pitching and for our pitchers to go against somebody other than our own hitters. I can’t begin to tell you how much I enjoy working with this team each day.”
The Yellow Jackets return seven position starters for the 2007 season, including 2006 Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman of the Year Whitney Haller, All-ACC outfielder Caitlin Lever and All-Southeast Region catcher Savannah Brown.
Haller, a sophomore from Marietta, Ga., set new ACC single-season records in home runs (24), RBI (72), slugging percentage (.799), total bases (171) and saves (6) last season. She finished her rookie campaign with a team-leading .393 batting average and was named to the All-Southeast Region and All-ACC first teams.
Lever, a senior from Amherst, N.Y., became Tech’s most potent hitter in the postseason last year hitting .429 and ending the season with a .352 batting average. She smashed a career-high 10 home runs and earned All-ACC second team honors.
Brown, a junior from San Diego, Calif., finished second on the Tech squad with 11 home runs and drove in 47 runs for the Yellow Jackets. She was named to the All-Southeast second team after hitting .295 and posted a .523 slugging percentage.
Also returning for the Jackets will be Tech’s top two starters in the circle from a season ago in Sarah Wood and Whitney Humphreys.
Wood, a senior from Marietta, Ga., led the Jackets with a 20-8 record and a 2.87 earned run average. She fanned 98 batters in 166.0 innings pitched and tossed three complete-game shutouts for Tech.
Humphreys, a junior from Shady Spring, W. Va., finished the season 18-7 with a 2.87 ERA. Battling a leg injury most of the season, Humphreys still managed to throw 126.2 innings for the Jackets and struck out 88.
Lacey Richardson, a sophomore from Sharpsburg, Ga., also saw considerable action for the Rambling Wreck in the circle. She went 8-6, with four saves and a 3.57 ERA.
A couple of transfers highlight Tech’s newcomers for the ’07 season. Sophomores Tiffany Johnson and Jennifer Yee came to Tech after superb freshman seasons at Florida A&M and Niagara University, respectively.
Johnson, a native of Ellenwood, Ga., transferred to Tech from FAMU where she was named MEAC Freshman of the Year. She led the Lady Rattlers to the MEAC Championship and hit .307, with seven doubles, one triple and five home runs. Johnson went 15-6 in the circle, with a 1.95 earned run average and fanned 124 batters in 118.2 innings pitched.
Yee, a native of North Delta, British Columbia, was named to the MAAC all-conference first team and tabbed MAAC Rookie of the Year. She broke the Niagara school record in batting average (.466), hits (62), runs scored (39) and home runs (11).
The Yellow Jackets will continue fall practice next week and take on Young Harris College at 2:30 p.m. next Friday, Oct. 13. Tech will wrap up the fall season on Friday, Oct. 20, as the Jackets host Georgia Perimeter College at 1 p.m. All games are free admission and are played at Glenn Field, at the corner of 14th Street and Mecaslin Street.
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