Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Softball Adds Four On National Signing Day
11/13/2002 | 12:00:00 | Softball
Nov. 13, 2002
Carbondale, Ill. - Southern Illinois University softball head coach Kerri Blaylock announced the addition of Amanda Clifton, Cassidy Scoggins, Alex Pepin and Ashley Hamby to the Saluki softball team on Wednesday, November 13. All four high school athletes signed a national letter of intent on National Signing Day to start the early signing period, which runs from November 13-20.
"I'm very excited. I think this is another solid recruiting class. This is my fourth class since I became head coach. We're losing two pitchers next year, but we're gaining two good pitchers who can also hit the ball very, very well so we've improved there. We're getting a catcher/second baseman who has an outstanding knowledge of the game and is a good heady player and a speedy outfielder to replace Kendra Moore. They'll give us another dimension at the plate and one of our pitchers may hit in the middle of our lineup. We'll have more options and we expect them all to come in and fight for playing time," said Blaylock.
Ashley Hamby, a pitcher/infielder from Fox High School in Arnold, Mo., had a 15-5 record as a senior pitcher with 205 strikeouts in 130.7 innings and a 0.38 earned run average. She averaged 10.98 strikeouts per game and hit .425 as a senior with a .750 slugging percentage, 13 doubles and 18 RBI. Hamby earned first-team all-district and all-conference honors and led her team to a 20-9 record and was the Missouri District-2 runner up. She was also an all-conference performer her first three years as a prep and earned first-team all-district honors as a junior and St. Louis Post Dispatch All-Metro honors as a sophomore.
"Ashley's a kid who can throw the ball 65-66 miles per hour and has a great rise ball and curve ball. She also plays on an excellent summer team. She'll be a .350 or so hitter that will provide power in the lineup. She reminds me of a young Erin Stremsterfer (former SIU all-American)," adds Blaylock.
Clifton is a catcher/second baseman from Cor Jesu Academy in St. Louis, Mo. As a senior, she hit .457 with 24 RBI's and 28 runs while leading her team to a 19-7 finish and a sectional championship. She was named all-conference and all-district and broke the school record for career and single season hits her senior year and was all-conference and all-district all four years. She also was second team all-state as a junior and honorable mention all-metro as a sophomore. As a freshman, her team finished second at the state tournament and batted .363, .363 and .365 her first three years in high school.
"Clifton is Hamby's catcher on their summer team, so they know each other coming into SIU. She's been around sports her whole life and is a very heady, very intelligent player. She's a spray hitter who hit three home runs recently," said Blaylock.
Scoggins, a pitcher/outfielder from Owasso High School in Owasso, Okla., was 22-6 with a 0.79 earned run average and 243 strikeouts in 188 innings as a senior. She batted .351 with a .987 fielding percentage and earned all-conference, all-region and all-state honors while leading her team to a 38-13 record, conference championship and state runner up finish. Scoggins was all-conference as a sophomore and junior with .351 and .359 batting averages respectively and a combined 26-11 pitching record.
"Cassidy plays on a summer team with freshman Andrea Hylla. She's an all-state performer in Oklahoma who throws the ball in the low 60s and can hit and run. She's an excellent kid," Blaylock stated.
Pepin is an outfielder from Kirkwood High School in Kirkwood, Mo. who hit .355 with 12 stolen bases and 29 runs as a senior. She led her team to a 23-6 record, the best in school history, and an appearance in the state quarterfinals. As a junior, Pepin hit .487 and was named first-team all-conference, all-Metro (St. Louis Post Dispatch) and all-state in class 4A. She was also an all-conference performer as a freshman and sophomore. Pepin batted .341 and .395 respectively in those seasons.
"Alex is very quick and plays on an outstanding summer team that finished in the top ten in the 16 and under nationals last year. She can fly, is a clutch hitter and has good range as an outfielder," Blaylock said.
The 2002 Salukis finished 31-17 overall and 17-7 in the Missouri Valley Conference, just a half game out of second place in the regular season. The Salukis return six starters and added seven players for the upcoming 2003 season.
