By: by Jessica Steadman
KENNESAW, Ga. –
The 2010 Kennesaw State Softball Preseason Prospectus is now available online. The season prospectus includes the 2010 player roster, information on this year’s Owls as well as last season’s statistics and results.
This season, head coach Scott Whitlock’s Owls will return nine starters, 12 letter winners and will add nine newcomers to the 2010 squad.
Leading the way for the Owls this season will be senior Jenna Closner, redshirt junior Klair Wells and redshirt sophomore Jessica Cross. Closner has been the Owls starting catcher over the last two seasons and started in 50 of 51 games behind the plate last year. Wells finished the 2009 campaign fourth on the team in hitting and started in every game, mostly at second base.
After redshirting last season, Cross returns as one of the Owls top offensive threats this year. The Tunnel Hill, Ga. native led the team with a .338 batting average in 2008 when she was an all-conference selection and was hitting .441 in 2009 before being sidelined with an injury. Not only is she a threat behind the plate, but she has also been one of the Owls best pitchers, striving as both a starter and closer since 2008.
The Owls roster also boasts nine newcomers: Ashlee Burkett, Sharon Swanson, Karlie Gillam, Hannah Graham, Katie Hamilton, Jensen Hackett, Ashley Moss, Morgan Chapman and Abbey Meixel.
Burkett hails from Warner Robins, Ga. where she prepped at Houston County High School. Swanson, Moss and Meixel are no strangers to each other as all three girls played for former KSU star Tonya Carlisle at Cherokee County High School in Canton, Ga.
Graham travels to KSU from Mill Creek HS while Chapman played at Lumpkin County High School. Hackett is familiar with the ways of the KSU family with her sister, Jordan, now a junior for the Owls. The only newcomer who isn’t a true freshman is Hamilton, who transferred from Louisiana State.
Kennesaw State begins their season Feb. 13, 2010 when they host the KSU Classic in Woodstock, Ga. The Owls first take on Wright State at 12:30 p.m. followed by a 3:00 p.m. game against South Dakota State.
