JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – University of North Florida head softball coach Marcie Hickey has announced today the signing of six players that will join the Ospreys for the 2011 season.
The 2010 signing class consists of Brittany Hendrix, Megan Mihalik, Lauren Pollack, Courtney Radke, Mariah Reynolds and Marissa Thomas. All six players who signed their national letter of intent are from high schools located in Florida.
“We're really excited about our 2010 recruiting class,” said head coach Marcie Hickey. “The six players that signed in November are very diverse and will help us in many different aspects of our game. We've been fortunate to add speed, power, consistency and versatility with this class and we are confident that they will come in and make an immediate impact on our program.”
Winner of the 2009 P. K. Yonge MVP and 2009 Offensive Player of the Year Awards, Hendrix has garnered many awards throughout her high school career for her techniques in slap-hitting and ability to pressure defenses on the base paths. The outfielder from P. K. Yonge High School received the Queen of Diamonds participant award and was a 2007 FHSAA 3A All-State Honorable Mention as well as All-Area Second Team selection.
Mihalik was an honorable mention candidate for the All-Gateway Conference during her freshman and sophomore years and then in her junior year received the All-Gateway Conference award. While playing at Nathan B. Forrest High School, she was able to plague defenses with her bat, earning the most valuable offensive player award during her freshman, sophomore and junior seasons.
A product of Coral Springs High School, Pollack is a very versatile player that swings from the left-side of the plate. After setting a school record with zero strikeouts during her sophomore and junior seasons, Pollack has gone on to receive two Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald All-County First Team 3A selections as well as First Team All-State in her junior year.
The loan pitcher in this year's recruiting class is a right-hander from New Port Richey, Fla. While at J. W. Mitchelle High School, Radke received all-conference honors her sophomore and junior seasons and defensive accolades all three years while on varsity. The honor-roll student will be a solid addition in the Ospreys attempts to replace senior Devyn Findley who has been a major contributor since coming onto the scene in 2007. Radke has been an impact player for J.W. Mitchelle and has the pitches to be ready to play in 2011.
Reynolds, received honors as the Second Team 5A All-State Catcher for 2009 as she helped lead a very good Auburndale High School team to the 2009 State Championship Semifinals. She currently plays for the Clearwater Lady Bombers' Gold Team and is on the 16-and-under Amateur Softball Association Team FLA which placed second in the Boulder Independence Day Tournament, where she led the team in homeruns. In 2008, Team FLA finished ninth out of 144 teams at the ASA Nationals tournament.
Being able to play the hot-corner for the Ospreys won't be a problem for stand out player Thomas, who comes to UNF from Park Vista High School. With solid mechanics and a sure swing that enters the hitting zone quickly, Thomas has proven why she was selected first team all-conference and first team all-county during her sophomore and junior seasons, respectively. The Lake Worth, Fla. native has put up a .430 batting average, driven in 66 runs, scored 60 runs and belted eight homeruns through her high school career so far. Thomas has also been a member of the National Honor Society for three years and a National Technical Honor Society member for two years.
With the addition of this new class, UNF will continue to build a solid group of players that will continue to mold the Ospreys' softball program into the championship caliber team it needs to be to compete for the Atlantic Sun Championship every year.
