Summer Camp is here!

Monday morning starts our annual Shocker Softball Summer Camp. Every year we take a 4 day period during the summer and really get down to the basics with kids from all around the mid-west..and sometimes the nation! It is always a fun time to teach the game, get to know the future stars of tomorrow, and work on my farmers tan!
If you or someone you know are interested in attending, log on to www.goshockers.com and visit the "Shocker Camps" page. Click on softball and all the information you will need will be right there!
The recruiting season is in full swing and as always we have been out in force looking for future Shockers! Seen alot of great ball so far this summer!

Rewards Starting to Roll in for our New Shockers!

Incoming Wichita State softball player Hayley Temple has been named the Arizona Small Schools Player-of-the-Year for the 2008-09 academic year by the Arizona Republic.Temple helped lead Chandler Valley Christian to a 24-5-2 record and a spot in the 2A state tournament this spring. Her .624 batting average, .670 on base percentage and 1.161 slugging percentage were tops in the state while her 11 triples led the nation. She also ranked in the state’s top 10 in RBI (41), runs (43) and doubles (13).In the circle she led the state with 315 strikeouts and ranked in the top 10 with a 0.60 earned run average, 176 innings pitched and 21 wins.

“I’m kind of shocked,” Temple told the Republic. “We didn’t win state. I always thought whoever wins state, their best player would get (the Player of the Year award). I feel really honored and special.”

Derby senior Sammie Shook, who lead Derby to a top 8 finish in KS 6A State Tournament, was recently named to the Wichita Eagle All-Metro Softball Team. The All-Metro team covers the counties of Sedgwick (Wichita), Butler, and Harvey. Sammie was also named 1st Team All Ark Valley-Chisolm Trail League. On the year Shook batted .405, with a outstanding .825 slugging percentage, drove in 35 runs, and belted 8 homers. State honors have not been anounced yet, but I'm sure this Shocker will be among those honored!

"U-Dub" Wins the National Championship

What a great WCWS this year! If you have been a fan and have followed Division 1 softball for awhile, you know that the West Coast has had a stranglehold on the rest of the country when it comes to winning national championships. This year, as has been the trend over the last 7-8 years, parity has started to spread out across the board. For the first time ever, there was no one dominant team and you didn't know what to expect game to game. That left you sitting there intrigued and glued to the TV watching the drama unfold in front of you! Who would have thought that mighty Arizona, winner of 7 national championships, would be on the other side of the worst defeat in WCWS history, losing 14-0 to Alabama. Or that the defending national champions, Arizona State, would not even make it to the semi-final round. For the first time ever, 3 of the 4 finalist were from the SEC, the other being Washington of the Pac-10. In the end, Florida (on a dramatic 2 out, walk off grand slam) and Washington (who had to with stand two hard fought games against Georgia) made it to the best 2 out of 3 championship round. The Huskies prevailed in the 1st game 8-0, and in a close battle Washington pulled out the 2nd game 3-2 to win the programs 1st National Championship. With that win the book closes on the 2009 NCAA Division 1 season. What a whacky year it has been! I can only imagine what 2010 would bring....all I can say is watch out, 2010 is the year of the SHOCKER!!!!

WSU Athletics wins MVC All-Sports Trophy!

For the fifth time in the last six years, Wichita State University has captured the Missouri Valley Conference All-Sports Trophy and owns a league-best 17 overall titles. Wichita State won its all-sports title for the first time since 2007 in one of the closest results in league history. WSU edged second-place Illinois State by 0.06 points. The Shockers won a league-best four titles (women’s cross country, volleyball, men’s golf and women’s tennis), while placing in the top four in 12 of 15 sports in which they sponsor.

Wichita State has won the All-Sports Trophy 17 times, including 1964-66, 1976, 1978-83, 1987-1988, 2004-07 and 2009. WSU has also been runner-up eight times, the last time being the 1997-98 season. The Shockers finished third in 2008.

The All-Sports Trophy is based on a school’s average finish in each of the sponsored championships by the Missouri Valley Conference. Teams are awarded one point for first, two for second, three for third, etc., and the total accumulated points are divided by the number of sports in which a particular school competes. Finishes in baseball, basketball, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball are based on regular-season competition. All other sports are determined by finish at the championship tournament or championship meet.

Season in Review

What a season! I cannot believe that this year has flown by so fast that it is now summer and we are getting ready for a whole new team to come in! Even though the season didn't go like we thought it would, 2009 showed a promise of a bright future for Shocker Softball. With most of our starters juniors and underclassmen, and nearly all of our freshmen seeing significant playing time at some point during the season, the 2010 Shockers will be back to form and better than ever!
Several of our athletes had some remarkable seasons and were honored by our conference recently. Sophomore C Heather Gerritse was named 1st Team All Missouri Valley Conference. "Gerr" led the Shocks in batting avg. at .352 and hit a career high 3 HR. In Valley play, she ranked 5th overall with a .375 BA and all 3 of her HR's were hit in conference. Junior 2B Kara L'Huillier was named 2nd team All Missouri Valley Conference after she hit a career high .325 BA, tied for the team lead with 8 HR's, and led the team in RBI's with 34.
Several other Shocks had great seasons and will look to them for bigger things to come next season. Sophomore OF Kiersten Dixon broke out with a career high .296 BA, tied for the team lead with 8 HR's, led the team in 3B's with 2, and knocked in 25 RBI's. Freshman OF Kersti Rowan led the team in SB's, going 15-17 on the season while hitting .278 on the season. Another Freshman, SS Bobo Brown, started off hot hitting over .300 for the 1st half of the season and knocked out 3 HR's. Freshman P Kasha Kolb led the team in K's with 207 on the season while opponents hit only .237 against her in conference.
We are excited to welcome several new faces to our lineup next season! We will have local product Sammie Shook joining our program as well as Texan Danika Miller and Haley Temple of Arizona. All are very talented athletes and are receiving very deserving post season awards for their work on the field and in the classroom.
With the summer months upon us, it means it is time for us to get back out on the road and recruit. We are looking forward to getting out and watching talented athletes and great softball all summer!

Spring Practice Begins!

The time is now! We started our preperations for the 2009 season last week with a spirited 2 hour practice last Tuesday. In all, we got 5 practices in where we were able to cover all aspects of the game. So far, our offensive practices have been great! We are hitting the ball better than when we ended the fall. Hopefully we will continue to climb that ladder and get better through out the season. Defensively, we have been a little shaky, but we have a talented group of infielders and outfielders, so it will come around by our first pitch. We are now two weeks and 4 days away from 1st pitch! Everday we practice, we have a countdown on our practice plans. Today marks only 14 more practices until we leave for Phoenix! That may seem like alot to some people, but to us coaches, we always want more!

Happy New Year!!

Can you believe that it is 2009! 2008 went by so fast! It seems like yesterday that the '08 season ended and now another season is upon us in less than a month. Our team will report back this Sunday to get ready for practice on the 13th. We have 3 weeks of practice before we fly out to Phoenix, Arizona to start our season at the Kajikawa Classic hosted by Arizona State.

Over half of our team is back taking Pre-session classes, and have been coming in to get some work in on their own, whether that be hitting, fielding, or throwing. They can't hardly contain their enthusiasm over what the upcoming season can behold!