MOREHEAD, KY. – Two talented junior college transfers and one highly touted high school player are the newest members of the Morehead State softball program. Coach Holly Bruder announced that she has received National Letters of Intent from utility player Brianna Athey (Casey, Ill./Lakeland Community College), pitcher Jami Whitcomb (Taylor Ridge, Ill./Muscatine [Iowa] Community College), and pitcher Kelcey McMurray (St. Joseph, Mo./Lafayette High School).
“We have signed an excellent trio of players for next season,” said Bruder. “With two pitchers graduating, we were focused on bringing in some talent to fill in those spots. We also got a great hitter who can play a variety of spots for us to go along with some great additions we signed in the fall.”
Athey is finishing her second season at Lakeland Community College and will be a junior in 2011 for MSU. She has led her team to a 42-12 record this year while winning the conference title. LLCC is also ranked 16th nationally. As of the first week in May, Athey was hitting a team high .413 with 51 runs scored, 37 RBI and a team-best 15 doubles. She has 62 hits and seven home runs.
In 2009, she batted .395 with six home runs, 10 doubles and 31 RBI. She helped LLCC set a school record for wins. Athey attended Casey-Westfield High School where she was named All-Conference as a sophomore, junior and senior. She guided CWHS to the state championship game her sophomore and junior seasons.
“Brianna is a true utility player. She can play either infield or outfield for us and she will help us at the plate,” said Bruder. “She has set offensive records at Lakeland, and I expect her to come in and immediately be in the lineup somewhere. She is a great hitter, and she is also a talented and very smart player.”
Whitcomb will have two years of eligibility remaining after spending her first two at Muscatine Community College in Muscatine, Iowa. In 2010, she guided MCC to a 44-9 record while sporting a 20-8 record in the circle. MCC finished the season ranked 18th nationally. Whitcomb led the conference in nearly every pitching category, recording a 0.86 ERA while striking out 142 batters in 202 innings. She only issued 37 walks and 24 earned runs. At the plate, she batted .280 with 19 RBI.
As a freshman in 2009, she was named First Team All Region in helping lead her team to a 43-11 record. She had 169 strikeouts in 206 innings and a 1.15 ERA while going 25-8. She also hit .400 in just 30 at-bats.
Whitcomb prepped at Rock Ridge High School where she was named First Team All State as a senior and Third Team All-State as a junior. She was 15-2 with a 0.53 ERA and 215 strikeouts with 12 shutouts as a senior. She also hit nearly .360 in her last two high school seasons.
“Jami is definitely a kid we kept our eyes on for the last year. She looked at some of our other rival schools, but she fell in love with Morehead and we are so glad to have her. She has a great demeanor, and her experience will help us immediately on the pitching staff,” said Bruder. “Her ERA is extremely impressive, and I think she will come in and be a starter right away.”
McMurray will be a freshman at MSU in 2011, but her high school resume is just as impressive as many of the more experienced pitchers. She nearly totaled 1,000 strikeouts in her prep career at Lafayette High School. She started all four years and was a four-time member of the First Team All City, First Team All MEC Conference, News Press All Region and First Team All District teams. She also earned three First-Team All-Region nods and was named News Press Player of the Year twice. As a senior, she was named Second Team All State.
For her career, she tallied 906 strikeouts in 448 innings and tied for the second most strikeouts in a seven-inning game in state history with 20 in her sophomore year. McMurray also plays for the Kansas City Zephyrs club program and was chosen as one of just 64 players to attend the National Elite Future’s Camp.
Slated to graduate fifth in her senior class, she was the Female Student-Athlete of the Year at LHS.
“We saw Kelcey a little late in the recruiting process but we are excited to have her,” said Bruder. “We invited her to a clinic we had, and all of us on the staff were so impressed. She is a talented kid, and her speed, composure and movement of the ball will benefit us. I expect her to either start or see a lot of game time action next season.”
The trio signed this week join fall signees Chelsea Bapst (Phoenix, Ariz./Phoenix College/Desert Vista HS), Stephanie Etter (North Lawrence, Ohio/Tuslaw HS), and Jamie Massaro (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman HS).
