Concordia softball recruiting class of 2014-15 heavy on local talent
SEWARD, Neb. – First-year head coach Todd LaVelle already has a large crop of recruits on board for the 2014-15 Concordia University softball recruiting class, mostly made up of Eastern Nebraska standouts. Eleven high school seniors and two junior college student-athletes are set to join the program as part of LaVelle’s first recruiting class since taking over Bulldog softball in the summer.
“It’s a good class. We’ve got a good mixture,” LaVelle said. “We got a couple pitchers, we got some outfielders and we got some speed. We got some girls that can play the short game and we’ve got probably four or five power hitters as well.”
So far, the group is loaded with Nebraska natives as 11 of the 13 future Bulldogs hail from The Cornhusker State. The other two prospects come from Canada and Washington, respectively.
Most of those who call Nebraska home will not have to go far with recruits coming from Seward, Lincoln, York, Tekamah, Fairbury, Wilber, Norris and Grand Island. Two recruits will arrive via Lincoln North Star High School, where LaVelle coached the softball team starting in 2005 and up until taking over at Concordia.
“I’ve had the pleasure of coaching both Katie (Rosenbaum) and Jen (Schenaman) and they will bring a lot to our team in the years to come,” LaVelle said.
With pitcher Amanda Beeson and starting catcher Amber Topil both preparing for their final seasons in 2014, LaVelle placed a premium on restocking those positions. He will welcome all-state catcher Shelby Schacher of Grand Island Northwest High School and pitcher/outfielder Jordana Goncalves who can fill a variety of roles. The addition of all-state pitcher Michaela Woodward from Norris High School will also lessen the blow of losing Beeson.
Broken down by position, four recruits have pitcher listed as one of their specialties, one plays catcher, seven play outfield, two play first base and three play infield. Included in that group are four who are listed as playing more than one position.
With five seniors on the current roster of 25, LaVelle expects to push the 2014-15 roster above 30 student-athletes.
2014-15 Concordia softball recruiting class (As of Dec. 20, 2013)
OF Kerigan Anspauch – Grand Island CC (Neb.)
P/OF Jordana Goncalves – British Columbia Canada
OF Chy Halberg – Seward High School (Neb.)
P/OF Justine Hansen – Tekamah High School (Neb.)
IF Alex Kentner – Grand Island CC (Neb.)
P Brittany Lawson – Wilber High School (Neb.)
IF – Atlanta Maronde – York High School (Neb.)
OF Katin Romero – Mount Vernon, Wash.
OF Katie Rosenbaum – Lincoln North Star (Neb.)
C Shelby Schacher – Grand Island Northwest High School (Neb.)
1B/OF Jen Schenaman – Lincoln North Star High School (Neb.)
IF Sydnie Schmidt – Fairbury High School (Neb.)
P/1B Michaela Woodward – Norris High School (Neb.)
