Murray State University Athletics
Softball Adds Three More to 2010 Roster
4/14/2009 6:45:00 PM | Softball
2010 Signees
Jenna Bradley, Trilla, Ill. (Lake Land College/Mattoon)
Kristen Broadway, Golconda, Ill. (Wabash Valley College/Pope County)
Alaina Zloty, Martinsville, Ind. (Martinsville)
“Everyday
our program moves a little closer toward a championship,” said Pyron.
“Coach Fox and I are constantly working to build and shape the program into our
championship vision and with these three players; we take another step in that
direction.”
Jenna Bradley comes to Murray State after spending the past two seasons at Lake Land
College with fellow Racers signees Megan Glosser, Stephanie Mattocks, and
Chelsey Sullivan. The All-Great Rivers
and All-Region Tournament team member has helped the Lakers to a 26-6 record so
far this season and the team finished the 2009 campaign with a 36-9 mark. This year Bradley has a .405 batting
average. In 33 games played she had
recorded 33 RBI's, four doubles, three triples, and a team leading six home
runs, while going 6-for-6 on stolen base attempts.
“Jenna
is a big addition to our program and I am looking forward to coaching
her. She is incredibly versatile and is an exciting player to watch,”
Pyron said. “I think she is going to play a very significant role in the
success of our program. Jenna comes from a very athletic family and
really loves to compete and I am very excited that she chose to continue her
career at Murray State.”
In
her first season with Lake Land College, Bradley recorded a .406 batting
average. She batted in 45 runs on 14
doubles, seven triples, and two home runs.
She also went 7-for-7 on stolen base attempts. Before attending Lake Land College Bradley
was a standout on the Mattoon High School squad for four seasons. The Greenwave went 110-21 during her tenure
and earned two Big-12 Championships (2004, 2007) and were Sectional Champs in
2004. She earned Big-12 All-Conference
Team honors her final three seasons and was named to the Decatur Harold
All-Area Team her junior and senior campaigns.
“Jenna
is one of the most versatile players I have coached in 30 years,” said Denny
Throneburg, head softball coach at Lake Land College. “She has all the tools; has a great arm, hits
for average, and has very good power. She is an excellent base runner with
outstanding speed. She is highly competitive and works as hard as anyone I have
in practice.”
“It
will be very exciting to be part of a new program,” said Bradley. “I believe it will be challenging because we
will have to come in and prove we can compete with the other teams in the
league that have had programs for many years.”
Like
Bradley, Kristen Broadway will head to the Racers with another member of her
junior college. Broadway has spent the
last two seasons with Taylor Wilson at Wabash Valley College. The Second Team All-American has been a key
force in the success of the Lady Warriors from the circle. In 2008 the All-Regional XXIV Co-MVP went
24-4 with six saves for Wabash Valley.
She had a 1.64 ERA and recorded seven shutouts and 180 strike outs (8.09/game). She helped the team to a 48-5 record and a
Region XXIV, a Great Rivers Athletic Conference Championship, and to a
seventh-place finish at the national tournament.
“Softball
starts with pitching and to be successful you have to be strong in the
circle. Kristen certainly fits that description,” said Pyron. “This season she has picked up right where
she left off from being an All-American last year. But to me the most exciting thing about
Kristen isn't her athletic ability or her successes as a pitcher, Kristen is an
outstanding person. She is very well rounded and is a great teammate and
our players will love being around her.”
In
17 games pitched so far during the 2009 campaign Broadway has a 14-0 record and
a .613 ERA. The All-Great Rivers
Athletic Conference honoree has recorded 90 strike outs (7.89/game) and has
helped the team to a 23-0.
“Every
coach's dream is to have an All-American player that is the consummate team
player and is the hardest working player in practice and on the field - that is
Kristen Broadway,” said Wabash Valley College Head Coach Paul Schnarre.
“She is an excellent student and a great person, always willing to help others
and leading by example.”
While
a prep, Broadway pitched at Pope County High School and led the Lady Pirates to
a 2007 GEC and Regional Championship while earning SICA All-South Softball
honors as a senior. She ended her high
school career averaging 12.13 strike outs per game, an ERA of 0.84 and 923
total strike outs.
“The
most exciting part about coming to Murray State is playing for a new
softball program,” Broadway said. “As a
team, we will get to establish tradition and set records so that the future
Racer softball teams can break them. We have the opportunity to do
something special, set the pace, and lead the way for the future Racers.”
The
final addition to the inaugural softball class is Alaina Zloty. Zloty was a three-time all-conference
selection for Martinsville High School from 2005-2008, before spending her
first collegiate semester at Indiana State and then transferring to Murray
State. While with the Artesians, Zloty
helped the team earn two Indiana 4A State Championships (2005, 2006) and three Mid-State
Conference, three sectional, and two regional championships.
“Alaina
made the decision to transfer to Murray State and began here in January,” said
Pyron. “Coach Fox and I have had the opportunity to work with her for a
couple weeks and we have enjoyed getting to know her. I think Alaina will
really benefit from this added time with us.”
In
her final season (2008), she was named to the all-district and all-area teams
after finishing the season with a .480 batting average and a .990 fielding
percentage.
“Alaina
is a dedicated, hard working leader who loves the game and gives 110 percent in
the game and at practice,” said Indiana Magic coach Frank Knox. “As a young first-year 18-U player, she moved
right into the starting lineup and helped our Indiana Magic team win back to
back ASA State Championships.”
While
a prep, Zloty also participated in soccer for four years, earning the starting goalkeeper
position as a freshman. She currently
owns the Martinsville school record for lowest goals against average (1.1) and
helped the team to three Mid-State Conference Championships.
“I
decided to come to Murray because I had heard that they were starting a softball
program and I thought it sounded like a great opportunity that I could not pass
up,” said Zloty. “Being able to be a part of a start up program is very
unusual but also extremely exciting.”
The
addition of Bradley, Broadway, and Zloty brings the 2010 Racer softball class
to 17. Now the only thing left to do is
prepare for the first pitch in early February 2010 to see how these
student-athletes will perform for Murray State.
2010 Signing Class
Megan Belio, Lemon Grove, Calif. (Granite Hills)
Jenna Bradley, Trilla, Ill. (Lake Land College/Mattoon)
Kristen Broadway, Golconda, Ill. (Wabash Valley College/Pope County)
Lauren Buch, Sparta, Ill. (Sparta/John A. Logan College)
Christian Cox, Hodgenville, Ky. (LaRue County)
Stephanie Edwards, Bowling Green, Ky. (Allen County)
Kaitlyn England, Springfield, Ill. (Glenwood)
Brittany
Estes, Greensburg, Ky. (Green County)
Starr Gilley, Graham, N.C. (Burlington Williams)
Megan Glosser, Mattoon, Ill. (Lake Land College/Mattoon)
Stephanie Mattocks, Momence, Ill. (Lake Land College/Momence Community)
Madeline
Ratliff, Louisville, Ky. (Louisville Male)
Toree Rogers, Murray, Ky. (Calloway County)
Chelsey Sullivan, Shelbyville, Ill. (Lake Land College/Casey-Westfield)
Ellyn Troup, Placentia, Calif. (El Dorado)
Taylor Wilson, Evansville, Ind. (Harrison/Wabash Valley College)
Alaina Zloty, Martinsville, Ind. (Martinsville)
