First Pitch Luncheon

The First Pitch Luncheon, kicking off the baseball and softball season was today. We heard from Coach McGinnis and Coach Case speak about their teams and the upcoming season.

Comments from Coach McGinnis included...
We have 8 players returning and 11 newcomers this season. Ashley Eliasson is our only returning starting pitcher. We have 4 seniors; Chrissy O'Neal, Hillary Downs, Nikki Prier, and Mary Beth Ledbetter. They will provide excellent leadership this year. They are all great students, with GPA's over 3.5.
Last season was a magical season. JSU is picked to win the OVC this season. JSU will be a team that other schools will measure themselves by this year. With 11 newcomers, we are a new team, but other schools respect us, and will be trying their best against us.
There are only two schools in the country where the softball team coaching staff all graduated from the school where they coach - JSU and UCLA. Head Coach Jana McGinnis and Assistants Mark Wisener and Julie Boland all graduated from JSU.

Comments from Coach Case included...
The baseball team is picked to finish second in the OVC this season. Last season was a little disappointing. We barely made the OVC tournament, and finished second in tournament play. We had our sights set on going to Regionals last season. Injuries played a big part. We hope to stay healthy this season.
We are excited to have Bert Smith active again. He was injured all of last season. We are not a young team this season. We have 8 seniors. Sam Eberle and Kyle Bluestein were Freshman All-American last year. We expect a lot from them. Todd Cunningham had a great season in the Cape Cod league. Look for good things from him. Bill Henke is one of the best relief pitchers in the league. We have set high goals for this season.
We have 31 home games this season, the most since I have been here at JSU. We're looking forward to playing in front of the home crowd.