Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Softball Adds Four Student-Athletes On National Signing Day
01/04/2005 | 12:00:00 | Softball
Nov. 10, 2004
By Lou Antoine
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois softball coach Kerri Blaylock may have completed one of her toughest challenges in her six years as head coach today, signing four student-athletes to National Letters of Intent. The newcomers will step in for a current group of seniors, who have been key in SIU's recent climb to national prominence.
Katie McNamara (Putnam Valley, N.Y.), Katie Schmidt (Millstadt, Ill.), Katie Wagner (Mt. Vernon, Ill.) and Jayme Wamsley (Hermitage, Tenn.) joined the Saluki program on Wednesday; the first day schools can begin signing student-athletes in the early signing period that ends November 17.
"This is a tremendous recruiting class, which fills the needs of our program with the upcoming loss of four solid seniors. We have addressed speed, offense, versatility and pitching, which is what we need to replace," said Blaylock.
"I believe we are starting to become a very athletic and versatile team, and that will translate into more run production.Coach (Buddy) Foster and I spent a lot of time identifying solid players that can compete at this level, and we are so happy to have these four in our program."
Blaylock's newest class will replace four current seniors, who were instrumental in SIU earning its first back-to-back NCAA Tournament bids, winning Southern Illinois' first Missouri Valley Conference regular season title, and finishing the last two seasons ranked in the NFCA Top 25 Final Poll for the first time in school history.
According to Blaylock, this group will help continue the success of the Saluki program.
McNamara, a lefty pitcher from Putnam Valley High School, went 21-3 with 267 strikeouts and a 0.65 earned run average on the mound. At the plate, she batted .408 with 20 RBI and a .620 slugging percentage as a junior, earning Class B First Team All-State, all-section and all-league honors.
As a sophomore, she added 216 strikeouts and opponents hit just .108 against her. McNamara also batted .698 with 18 RBI and an .836 slugging percentage, collecting all-section and all-league honors. She was team MVP in both seasons.
"We are very happy to add a lefty to our pitching staff.Katie does a great job working the hitters and has a great change up, which fits the mold of several of our past pitchers.She too has great summer ball experience against some of the best in the country," stated Blaylock.
Schmidt, a shortstop and outfielder from Belleville West High School, earned Second Team All-State, First Team All-Metro, and First Team All-Area and All-Southwest Conference honors at shortstop as a junior. She hit .433 with seven triples, 38 runs, a .604 slugging percentage and 20 stolen bases in 22 attempts.
Schmidt was First Team All-Area and All-Southwest Conference as a freshman (outfield) and sophomore (shortstop) and hit .356 and .364 respectively. She added 36 runs and 27 steals in 28 attempts as a sophomore, and stole 20 bases in 20 attempts with four home runs and 38 runs scored as a freshman. Her 67 steals in 70 attempts has the Saluki staff excited.
Schmidt led her team to a third place finish at state as a freshman, and to the sectional finals as a sophomore and junior, as her teams compiled an 81-25 record. Schmidt was also named an NFCA Academic All-American all three years.
"Katie is a great all around athlete with a tremendous amount of speed.She will be a true utility player for us, and be able to help in the outfield and infield.She hits from the left side and gets down the line very quickly.We are also very excited to keep our recruiting ties to the Belleville area," stated Blaylock.
Wagner, a shortstop from Mount Vernon High School, is an all around softball player, who earned First Team All-South Seven Conference honors after leading her team in average (.320), home runs, RBI, extra base hits, and stolen bases as a junior.
During the summer of 2004, Wagner was a member of the ASA Girl's Gold 18-Under national championship team, leading the team in hitting at the national tournament, while playing shortstop, outfield and catcher.
"Katie is a tremendous all around softball player, and we are so excited to keep her close to home. She was highly recruited after a great summer where she won a national championship," said Blaylock. "Katie knows what it takes to play at this level and is such a hard worker. She will fit right into our program, and along with Katie Schmidt, will bring incredible speed and athleticism to the team."
Wamsley, a catcher from Goodpasture High School, led her team to state titles in 2003 and 2004. As a junior, Wamsley hit .454 with a .739 slugging percentage, 45 RBI, a .537 on base percentage, and just eight strikeouts, while her team went 33-5. Her efforts earned her all-state, all-district, all-midstate, District Player-of-the-Year and Offensive Player-of-the-Year honors.
As a sophomore, Wamsley hit .390 with 40 RBI, a .745 slugging percentage and a .516 on base percentage, while collecting all-state, all-district, all-midstate and Offensive Player-of-the-Year honors. She also set the sophomore home run record that season.
"Jayme is a tremendous hitter, who we hope will help with the loss of some of our seniors. She is a strong catcher and also comes from a great summer program that has played at the Gold level, which has prepared her for Division I," added Blaylock."We are hoping that getting a recruit from the Nashville, Tenn. area will open some new recruiting ground for us."
SIU finished 2004 ranked #24 (NFCA) and with a school-record 45 wins (45-17), breaking the old mark of 42 by the 1991 squad (42-7). Southern Illinois returns 12 of 17 athletes from last year's NCAA Tournament team, including First Team All-MVC pitcher Amy Harre and outfielder Katie Jordan, and All-MVC Honorable Mention catcher Amanda Clifton.
The Salukis open the 2005 season at the Ole Miss Rebel Invitational Feb. 12-13.
