From Tony McDaniel – SIU Sports Information
CARBONDALE – Southern Illinois softball enters the 2018 season hoping to run to its first back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearance since 2006 and 2007.
Last season, the Salukis won 10 of their final 12 games against Missouri Valley Conference opponents on their way to the MVC Tournament Championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament at the Oxford, Mississippi Regional.
With 2017 in the books, the 2018 Salukis are ready to write their own story.
“Last year we made a list of commitments. One of last year’s commitments was to be the best version of that team that we could be. We felt like we achieved that” Head coach Kerri Blaylocksaid. “This year, we rolled that commitment over again. We want to be the best version of this year’s team that we can be. You always have new people, new dynamics, new coaches and so on. What happened last year was awesome. Now we’re focused on doing the best we can for this group.”
While 2018 can be a big year for the team’s players, it will also be a historic one for the team’s head coach. Blaylock is entering her 19th season at the helm of the Saluki softball program and is knocking on the door of some major milestones. Blaylock currently has 628 wins and is just six wins away from passing Kay Brechtelsbauer for Southern’s all-time lead in program wins. Brechtelsbauer’s mark currently stands at 633 wins. Blaylock will also manage her 1,000th game on March 14th against UT-Martin barring any cancelations due to weather. She is also eight wins shy of her 300th win in the Missouri Valley Conference.
This season, the Salukis return a core of the 2017 team after losing just three seniors. While some of those seniors were impact players, the Salukis have the pieces in place to fill the vacancies left by the team’s graduating players.
Among the leading returners for the approaching season are the team’s senior captains Sydney Jones, Savannah Fisher and Savanna Dover. The three players make up a combined 352 starts and provides a core of experienced leadership to the defending MVC Tournament Champions.
“All three of these players are four-year starters. They’ve been in the program and they’ve been through great leadership. They understand what it takes,” Blaylock said. “It was a natural fit for our three. A cool thing that we have though is that Brittany Turner and Haley Andrus are both really good teammates and people. They have some natural leadership traits. Our three captains are our go to leaders, but all five seniors are pretty special.”
Jones and Fisher will lead an infield that returns four of its five starters from 2017. Jones and returning sophomores Katelyn Massa and Maddy Vermejan are all back after a season that earned all three of them All-MVC honors. Jones was a second-team selection thanks in part to her team-leading 9 home runs from 2017. Jones also turned in a .970 fielding percentage while playing the majority of her games at the hot corner.
Massa and Vermejan were both second-team selections in their first season with the Salukis. Massa unseated a senior to start in 43 games as a catcher or designated player in 2017. The freshman hit .297 with 22 RBI and five home runs while also posting a perfect fielding percentage and throwing out 11 runners attempting to steal. As for Vermejan, she hit .284 with 7 doubles and 20 RBI while posting a .990 fielding percentage that helped her add an All-MVC Defensive Team selection to her resume.
The only infield position that Southern does not return a starter for is first base, which departed senior Shaye Harre played for the last four seasons. Harre is tough to replace for Southern. She led the league in walks and doubles in 2017 and is the school record holder in career doubles and RBI and the single-season record holder in walks and doubles.
Luckily for the Salukis, a player that Harre mentored in 2017, sophomore Kyleigh Decker is slated to take the bulk of the starts at first in 2018. Last year, she played in 40 games and started 17 for Southern. Decker had a home run and five RBI in 2017.
“Kyleigh is a trained shortstop from the time she was little. She is very, very athletic. She’s done a great job over there at first,” Blaylock said. “As far as catching the ball and fielding the ball, she’s done a great job. You can’t say enough about her athleticism.”
Junior first baseman Jordan Spicer is the newest addition to the Saluki roster; she joined the team as a transfer from Belmont. Spicer started 89 games as a freshman and sophomore for the Bruins totaling seven home runs and 51 RBI. Spicer hit .319 for Belmont in 2017. She will get some starts at first in the upcoming season, but will likely see most of her playing time as a designated player.
Another important senior infielder returning in 2018 is Haley Andrus who will see time at third base and designated player in 2018. Andrus played mostly as a designated player in 2017 making 34 starts in 38 appearances. Andrus totaled 17 hits, a double, a home run and 12 RBI last season.
Southern also returns sophomore Bailee Pulley in 2018. Pulley appeared in 36 games and made one start last year playing mostly as a pinch runner. She scored 14 runs in her 2017 role.
In the outfield, the Salukis are returning two of their three starters from 2017 in junior Eyrika Brandenburg and sophomore Susie Baranski. Brandenburg hit .309 in 2017 for Southern with 28 runs scored and 23 RBI. Her 3 triples were tied for fifth best in the league. For Baranski, the young Saluki led the team in hits with 53, at-bats with 171 and is the leading returning player in walks with 31 and steals with 9. Baranski led the league in at-bats and total plate appearances and was top-10 in the MVC in runs scored, hits and walks.
Southern will have to replace another big bat in former centerfielder Merri Anne Patterson, but again, the pieces are in place to do so.
“We’re probably going to a freshman, Jenny Jansen, in centerfield as well as Maris Boelens a little bit,” Blaylock said. “Jenny can play center, short, third, really anywhere we want her. She is a phenomenal athlete. Maris is one of those truly gifted outfielders that can make it look really easy when she tracks down a ball.”
Jansen won back-to-back state championships in Missouri while hitting .538 with 14 home runs and 128 RBI and 40 steals in her time at Warrenton High School. Jansen was a four-time all-state selection in Missouri as a softball player and made the team two more times as a basketball player.
As for Boelens, she helped Alleman High School in Aledo, Illinois to a state championship in 2014 and won NSA National Championships in 2016 and 17 with her club team and third-place finish at the USSSA World Series in 2014. Boelens hit .438 with a .570 on-base percentage in 2015.
Megan Brown could be in the mix to fill the third outfield spot as well as returning senior outfielder Brittany Turner.
Turner played in 43 games and made one start in 2017. The majority of her action came as a pinch runner. She stole 3 bases on 4 attempts last season and had 4 putouts on 4 chances in the field.
Brown played for Dupo High School in Dupo, Ill. where she was an All-Conference, All-Metro and All-Area team selection all four years in high school. She also helped Dupo to a second place finish at the IHSA State Championship in 2016. Brown was a career .488 hitter with 22 home runs in high school.
Blaylock’s teams have always been led by strong pitching backed up by a solid defense. While she expects that to remain the same this season, Blaylock is fired up about her team’s offense.
“Coming out of preseason practice, I’m excited about watching our hitters hit,” Blaylock said. “I feel like Jen Sewell has prepared them so well and I’m excited to see that part of it. I’m super excited about our offense.”
As for Southern’s pitchers, its top-two arms return from 2017 including Dover and the staff’s ace Brianna Jones. Jones posted a 2.14 ERA in 2017 with 18 wins, 128 strikeouts and just 33 walks. Jones was top-10 in the MVC in wins, strikeouts, starts, appearances, games finished, saves and walks allowed. Her stellar marks earned her a spot on the Missouri Valley Conference first-team for the second-straight year. Jones also threw her first no-hitter last season in a February 11 game against Mississippi Valley State.
Dover, who was mentioned earlier as a team captain, posted a 2.87 ERA with 7 wins, 3 shutouts 56 strikeouts and an opposing batting average of .245. Dover was top-10 in the league last season in hits allowed, runs and earned runs allowed, walks allowed, doubles allowed and home runs allowed.
Southern’s third pitcher is Brown who adds the role to her role as an outfielder.
“Megan was a very good high school pitcher. She has command of the strike zone and is such a competitor. She competes in everything she does which is why she will definitely get playing time,” Blaylock said. “I feel very good about where our pitching staff is right now. They are experienced and tested. I am looking for them to be settled and ready to go our first weekend out.”
Two more freshman join Jansen, Brown and Boelens as Saluki pups looking to make their mark. Shelby Hodo joins Massa on the roster as the only other player listed at catcher. In high school, she was the 5-6A Catcher of the Year in Texas and a member of the 5A All-State team in the state. Hodo helped her travel team, the Texas Glory, to the No. 14 ranking in the nation and a second place finish at the USSSA Nationals.
Freshman Meredith Wernig could feature as an infielder for the Salukis following a successful career for Lutheran South in Imperial, Mo. Wernig hit .487 with 27 RBI, 14 doubles and 4 home runs for her high school team.
Southern opens the 2018 season on Feb. 9 with a doubleheader against Abilene Christian and Texas-San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas. The Salukis home opener is March 2 against Illinois and Murray State when the Salukis host the Coach B Classic. Valley play opens at home this year when Southern hosts Loyola in a double header on March 17. The season culminates in the MVC Championship in Des Moines, Iowa, May 10-13.
“We’re excited to get going,” Blaylock said. “We need to get our kids in game action. We need to play against someone that isn’t ourselves. We need to hit against somebody besides the coaching staff. The season is a marathon, not a sprint. Last year the most important part of the race was the end. If we can just keep that in mind, we will be good.”
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