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2019 SEASON PREVIEW -- Wildcats Softball Ready for Next Big Step

2/8/2019 2:28:00 PM

By: Chris Myers
2019 Roster
2019 Schedule
2018 Season Stats
FORT VALLEY, Ga. – Following a year with its most wins in recent years, the Fort Valley State 2019 softball team is ready for the next big step in its program's growth.
 
Wildcats' head coach Jason Bryant enters his second year and takes great optimism heading into the upcoming diamond campaign. The FVSU director guided the program to a big step forward and narrowly missed a winning season at a 16-17 finish for his inaugural 2018 spring season.
 
Bryant has a lineup led by a pair of Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Preseason Second Team selections in catcher Shakerra Geter (Newnan, Ga.) and center fielder Ashley Simmons-Blair (Aiken, S.C.). The pair of juniors make up two of the returning top 11 of 12 hitters from a year ago back in the hitting lineup.
 
Geter and Simmons-Blair are set to be key cogs in coach Bryant's team making its return to the SIAC playoffs this season. FVSU fell just one game short of jumping into the league's 8-team playoff field last season.
 
"I truly believe this team will make its return to the SIAC playoffs this year," stated Bryant. "Anything less would be disappointing. If we play the way we are capable, the playoffs are in reach."
 
The Wildcats will be battle tested heading into the SIAC schedule of games this spring. FVSU opens its 2019 docket over the weekend on Feb. 9-10 in Acworth, Ga., at the HBCU Division II Tournament with Division I Grambling State as the first foe followed by former SIAC-member Claflin and two Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association teams of Virginia Union and Bowie State to finish the weekend. FVSU also has a home-and-home pair of doubleheaders against regional Peach Belt Conference's Georgia Southwestern.
 
"Playing a very tough out-of-conference schedule should help prepare us for the tough conference schedule," said Bryant. "An upgrade in the schedule should help the program progress toward the championship level that I want to get to."
 
The FVSU coach takes a great deal of excitement into the year, as well, with only one senior in Carmen Warren (Dawson, Ga.) and the other 19 players dotting the roster for another year or more for the future.
 
"The program is definitely headed in the right direction. Fort Valley State softball will be extremely young this year, but it will be very talented," pointed out Bryant. "A host of sophomores will be in very key positions and a very good recruiting class of freshman will be pushing to start early in their careers." 
 
The Wildcats' battery will have a strength at the catching position of the SIAC Preseason Second Team Geter and fellow junior Katrina Loney (Decatur, Ga.) anchoring the position. The two FVSU backstops will be key in helping the development and success of an all-freshman pitching staff.
 
Geter recorded a solid .973 fielding percentage with only six errors in 221 chances behind the dish. At the plate, the third-year player lined 28 hits in 92 at bats for a .304 average, her second .300-plus season. She also was second on the team with 10 doubles and 17 walks to go with a triple, 18 RBI and a .435 slugging percentage.
 
Loney lined 19 hits in 83 at bats (.229) with 15 runs, three doubles and 17 RBI. Freshman Ke'leeshia Ellis (Albany, Ga.) adds a young catcher to the fold.
 
The two experienced FVSU catchers will be even more important this season as the entire pitching staff will be made of four freshman pitchers in Sara Lann (Eastman, Ga.), Kayla Brown (Winder, Ga.), Jenelle Cockerham (Hampton, Ga.) and Re'Nesha Goolsby (Macon, Ga.).
 
"Our catching should be a strength this year, especially with four freshman pitchers, who will battle for pitching time in the circle," stressed Bryant.
 
When one is handling the catching duties, the other individual of Geter and Loney will slot into the third base spot.
 
Moving across the left side of the Wildcats infield, Tyanna Askew (Dublin, Ga.) is set to handle the short stop duties after she handled 88 chances last season. The sophomore finished fourth on the team with a .309 batting average with 21 hits in 68 at bats. Askew led the Wildcats with 20 walks, while she was also second in steals (7), third in RBI (20), fourth in runs scored (20). Tyanna added three doubles and a triple amidst her hits.
 
After a year away, Aliyah Speight (Savannah, Ga.) starts at second base. In 2017, Speight lined 22 hits in 67 at bats for a .265 average. The sophomore scored 20 runs, while she posted three triples, a home run and 13 RBI. Junior Tavyonne Dallis (Lithonia, Ga.) will provide backup at the spot.
 
At first base, sophomore Armani Alderman (Fort Valley, Ga.) and freshman Lann will be the top options. Alderman belted two triples and a home run of her nine hits a year ago with 18 RBI. Along with pitching, Lann will see time at first base with her hitting ability.
 
In the outfield, Simmons-Blair returns to patrol center. The SIAC Preseason Second Team selection increased her batting average by 110 points in her second season to .284 with 29 hits in a team-high 102 at bats. The junior also led FVSU with a perfect 11 of 11 in stolen bases and tied for first with 24 runs scored. Simmons-Blair added four doubles, 13 RBI and 15 walks.
 
Marlayzha Crutchfield (Monroe, Ga.) returns to left field. The junior progressed in her second year where she raised her average 31 points to .247 (22 of 89) last spring. The left-handed hitter added 21 runs, two doubles and 16 RBI.
 
It will be a competition for the inside track in the rest of the outfield mix. Warren is joined by sophomores Destiny McIntyre (Edison, Ga.) and Audrianna Noel (Tallahassee, Fla.) and freshmen Tanami Owens (Lawrenceville, Ga.), Jahara Buggs (Rockdale, Ga.) and Alera Buie (Gainesville, Fla.).
 
Warren saw action in 22 games a year ago where she lined one hit and scored six runs.
 
Noel produced a quality first season where she hit .327 with 32 hits in 98 at bats. She also tied for the team lead with 24 runs and was second in RBI (24). Noel was a perfect 5-for-5 in stolen bases and lined five extra base hits, three doubles and two triples.
 
McIntyre posted six hits in 14 trips to the plate for a .429 average as a freshman. She had one double and scored five times.
 
Owens, Buggs and Buie give Coach Bryant a trio of talented new outfielders challenging for playing time in their first seasons.
 
Able to play multiple positions, junior Ladayshia Williams (Palmetto, Fla.) will have the role of a utility player in the Wildcats lineup.
 
With plenty of young talent to mold, Coach Bryant's second Wildcat softball edition is ready to take the field and take the next big step in its run to the SIAC playoffs and beyond.
 
 
 
 
-Wildcats-
 
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