Murray State Softball Welcomes Seven Newcomers

Murray State softball head coach Kara Amundson has announced that seven prospective student-athletes have signed a National Letter-of-Intent to play for the Racers. Shelby Durbin, Taylor Franzen, Bre Haislip, Riley Jestadt, Ava Ozment, Ailey Schyck and Jadyn Thompson will join the team in the fall of 2022.

"We are beyond excited to welcome these seven elite young women to the Racer Softball program in this 2022 class!" said Amundson. "This class brings a little bit of everything: pitching, hitting, speed, and tough defense. This is an incredibly well rounded class who are no doubt capable of leaving a lasting legacy on this program. It's been a long, hard fought journey for this group and we are excited to finally officially welcome them into our Racer family!"

Shelby Durbin joins the Racers from Savannah, Tenn., where is a four-year varsity starter at Hardin County High School.

A catcher/outfielder for the Tigers, she hit .450 her freshman season to help lead her team to a district championship and a second-place finish in the region, advancing to State. As a junior, Durbin led her team back to a district championship and region runner-up. She was named to the all-district team, the all-district tournament team and was the district tournament MVP. She posted a .398 batting average, hitting a team-high 10 home runs and had 24 RBIs. Durbin is also starter on varsity soccer.

Taylor Franzen hails from Pleasant Hill, Iowa and plays catcher for Southeast Polk High School.

As a sophomore, Franzen helped her team to an 11-13 overall record playing in 23 games, starting 21. In 56 at-bats, Franzen collected 15 hits, four doubles, three home runs, scoring six runs and driving in nine.

During her time at Southeast Polk, Franzen earned two academic letters, attending the Honors Breakfast her freshman year. She is graduating 39^th of 478 in her class with a 4.012 GPA, intending to study Pre-Med at Murray State. The multi-sport athlete also competes in volleyball and track & field and played travel ball for the Iowa Premier, the Iowa Blitz and the Nebraska Gold.

Bre Haislip joins the Racers from Petersburg, Tennessee where she plays for Lincoln County High School as a pitcher and infielder

In 2021, Haislip earned all-district and gold glove selections after batting .453, six home runs, 43 RBIs and had a .929 fielding percentage. Her 43 RBIs finished in the top 20 in the state of Tennessee.

She also play volleyball, earning the Hustle Award her sophomore year. As a junior, Haislip was named all-district and all-region and followed it up her senior year with an all-district first team selection.

Riley Jestadt comes to Murray State from Westerville, Ohio where she is a two-time first team all-conference and all-district selection for Olentangy Orange High School.

A middle infielder/utility player for the Pioneers, Jestadt broke the school record for slugging percentage (.860) after batting .505 and driving in 35 runs, 25% of the team's RBIs, in her junior year. She was named to the first-team all-conference, second-team all-district, MVP award and scholar-athlete.

Jestadt is graduating with a perfect 4.0 GPA and is a member of the National Honors Society and Pioneer Ambassadors.

Ava Ozment hails from Dyersburg, Tennessee and helped lead Dyer County High School to the 2019 State Tournament.

As a freshman, Ozment earned all-conference tournament and all-state team honors after leading her team to a state appearance. She led the team in batting average, a member of the 400 club and was named Rookie of the Year. In her junior season, Ozment was named all-conference tournament, all-district and all-state and was Defensive MVP.

Ozment will graduate in the top 10% of her class with a perfect 4.0 GPA. She is a member of the National Honors Society, the ACT benchmark club and the ACT +5 and +3 club.

Ailey Schyck comes to Murray State from Winter Garden, Florida where she is a two-time Florida Athletic Coaches Association All-State and two-time all-metro conference selection for Olentangy Orange High School.

Entering her senior season, the corner infielder carries a .463 career batting average with 81 hits, 18 doubles, three triples, 16 home runs, 62 runs and 78 RBIs.

While playing for the Windermere Wildfire – Paulson, she helped the team become 2021 18U USA Softball National Champions. She also finished runner-up at the 2020 JO Cup 18U and fourth-place at the 2019 USA Softball 18U Nationals.

Schyck is the granddaughter of legendary Murray State Hall of Famer, Ron Greene, who played basketball for the Racers from 1958-1962 and coached from 1978-1985. Her grandmother Theresia Greene, was a cheerleader at Murray State from 1958-1962.

She is also a three-year varsity letter winner and two-time district champion in basketball.

Jadyn Thompson joins the Racers from Louisville, Kentucky where she plays for Louisville Male High School helping the Bulldogs to a percent 39-0 2019 season finishing with a Kentucky State Championship title and National Championship title.

A varsity player since seventh grade, Thompson has finished top in all offensive statistical categories including batting average, OBP, doubles, triples, and stolen bases at Male. The outfielder was selected in 2021 to the first team-all academic state, KY East-West all-star team, all-district team, all-region team.

Thompson also competed for the Louisville Male HS Competition Cheer Team from 2018-2020, finishing 12th at Nationals at ESPN Center in Florida in 2018-19 and fourth at Nationals in 2019-20.

She is a member Future Physicians Club, Beta Club, FCA, and a Bulldog Ambassador at Louisville Male High School, graduating with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

Murray State University Athletics

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