MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State softball team returned from the holiday break early, but because of snow and below-freezing temperatures had to wait until Thursday, Jan. 9 to begin preparations for the 2025 season. Due to the poor weather, Morehead State has been practicing inside the Prefontaine Field House throughout the month.
The Eagles will begin the campaign on Friday, Feb. 7 against George Washington at Presbyterian's Pinnacle Blue Hose Invitational in Clinton, S.C.
"We weren't able to start our prep week training when we planned due to the massive snowstorm that came in. However, we were fortunate to be able to start up practice on January 9th and get some great work in," third year head coach
Megan Griffith said. "The coaching staff is very proud of the work our athletes did over break and how they came back ready to get after it. We've seen a lot of growth on all sides and we're looking forward to opening up in South Carolina soon!"
The 2024 team finished with a 12-28 overall record and 6-21 mark and in ninth place in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Eagles return five letter winners, all starters, along with two others who saw limited time, and will be joined by nine newcomers. The team will have to replace 11 total players, including six letter winners, four who were positional starters, along with all three pitchers.
Among those the Blue and Gold will need to replace are outfielder
Trinity Spear, infielders
Peyton Jordan and
Samantha Cervantes, catcher
Kaytlyn Cripps and pitchers
Jessie Begley and
Addie Stem.
Highlighting MSU's returnees is senior outfielder
Darlene Montoya, a 2024 OVC All-Newcomer Team selection who was named as the Eagles' representatives on the league's preseason "Players to Watch" list. Last spring, Montoya hit .270, with nine doubles, three home runs, 16 RBI, a .426 slugging percentage and a .325 on-base percentage. She led or tied for the lead in seven categories including batting average, RBI and home runs.
Another key returnee is sophomore infielder
Sela Pickford (.256 BA, eight extra-base hits, 10 doubles, 14 RBI, nine stolen bases). Last spring, Pickford primarily played third base and was one of two players to start every game. She finished atop the team in at bats, doubles, stolen bases and sacrifices; and tied for the top spot in hits and runs.
Only two players return with more than two years' worth of experience. Senior utility player
Ilencia Lightbody (.238 BA, 16 runs, six doubles, three homers, 13 RBI, 18 walks, eight stolen bases, .440 slugging percentage, .279 on-base percentage) and junior outfielder
Taikibrea Campbell (.200 BA, 10 RBI). Lightbody played catcher, middle infield and outfield in 2024; and led the team in walks and slugging percentage, and tied for first in homers. Campbell (also known as "Red") played and started 31 games.
Like Pickford, sophomore infielder
Kendra Lewis (.235 BA, 17 walks, .345 on-base percentage) also returns after having started every contest in 2024. Lewis primarily played at first base but is expected to move elsewhere this season.
Sophomores
Maddy Christopher and
Azea Lightbody also return. Christopher, and outfielder, missed all but 11 games last spring due to a leg injury. Lightbody, a middle infielder who is the younger sister of Ilencia, saw action in seven contests, primarily as a pinch runner.
Redshirt freshman infielder
Delaney Overstreet (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch High School) was ineligible last season but will likely factor into the lineup at first base. As a senior in high school, she batted .281 and earned honorable mention all-region honors.
For just the third time in school history, the Eagles do not return any pitchers. One of only a handful of teams in Division I with that distinction, coach Griffith will turn to a trio of right-handed juniors,
Rylie Burney [Kincaid, Ill. (Lake Land College/South Fork High School)],
Alivia Parks [Las Vegas, Nev. (College of Southern Nevada/Southeast Career & Technical Academy)] and
Emma Solis [Austin, Texas (Indian River State College/James Bowie High School)]. Burney finished her sophomore year with a 4-2 record, a 3.16 ERA and a 5.87 strikeouts per game mark. Parks pitched two years at Southern Nevada in largely a relief role after earning Nevada 4A co-Player of the Year honors as a high school senior for state quarterfinalist SECTA. As a sophomore, Solis finished 8-2, with a 2.94 ERA and 6.44 strikeouts per game.
Two other junior college transfers join the team, junior second baseman/utility player
Jordan Donato [Union, Ky. [Lake Land College/Nashville Community (Ill.) HS] and junior first baseman
Sierra McLean [Henderson, Nev. (College of Southern Nevada/Basic Academy)]. Donato batted .321 with 23 RBI and 10 stolen bases as a sophomore at Lake Land. McLean hit .338 with six homers, a .544 slugging percentage and 38 RBI her final season at CSN.
MSU also welcomes three true freshmen, outfielder
Sophie Collins [Fenton, Mich. (Fenton High School)], catcher/utility player
Nyla Doiron [Zachary, La. (Zachary High School)] and infielder
Victoria Spencer [Marietta, Ga. (Blessed Trinity Catholic High School)}. Collins was a first-team all-state pick at Fenton as a senior and finished her career with a .484 batting average. Doiron has an extensive background playing high level summer softball and earned all-district honors throughout high school. Spencer was a three-time all-region performer at Blessed Trinity Catholic.
On Thursday, the OVC announced its preseason ranking as voted upon by the league's head coaches and softball sports information contacts with the Eagles tabbed to finish in ninth.
Defending conference tournament champion Southeast Missouri received nine first-place votes and 152 total points to earn the top spot. The RedHawks were followed by Southern Indiana (six first-place votes, 140 points), Eastern Illinois (five first-place votes, 139 points), Tennessee State (107 points), Tennessee Tech (82 points), Lindenwood (80 points), UT Martin (74 points), SIU Edwardsville (73 points), MSU (30 points) and Western Illinois (23 points).
The league also revealed its preseason Players to Watch. That list included Eastern Illinois senior infielder Briana Gonzalez, Lindenwood senior outfielder Irelynn West, Southeast Missouri senior first baseman Aubrie Shore, Southern Indiana senior pitcher Josie Newman, SIUE senior outfielder Lauryn Yslava, Tennessee State graduate student third baseman Anayah Baker-Rowell, Tennessee Tech senior first baseman Sydney Kirby, UT Martin junior third baseman Kennedy Brown and Western Illinois junior outfielder Rylee Boone.
This spring, MSU will play four early-season tournaments and 17 home contests as part of its' 51-game schedule. This year's slate includes 13 contests against teams which finished in the top 106 in the final NCAA Division I Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).
