College Softball: Skyhawk signees among prep elite

The 2011 softball season at UT Martin ended a little more than a month ago and head coach Donley Canary is on the road recruiting for the future.
Along with seeing future stars, the Skyhawk head coach is hearing how his 2011 signing class was on the diamond this past season.
In addition to two All-Midstate (Tennessee) players, Canary signed the St. Louis Dispatch All-Metro Player of the Year and Southern Illinoisan’s 2011 Softball Player of the Year.
Two of his signees, Carter Mansolino from Dickson County High School and Casey Vincent, from Coffee County High School, were named to the Tennessean’s 2011 All-Midstate team.
Mansolino hit .494 this past season with 10 home runs, 16 doubles and 52 runs batted in. Vincent went 24-3 with four saves in the circle. She sported a 0.56 earned run average and racked up 204 strikeouts. She also had a .475 batting average.
Vincent and Mansolino both played in the Middle Tennessee Softball Coaches Association All-Star games recently. Vincent pitched while Mansolino caught for the Red Team.
After a tossing a 3-0 shutout, the battery was invited to play in the Tennessee-Kentucky All-Star series June 30 in Nashville. Tennessee has never lost the 2-out-of-3 series against Kentucky.
Lauren Smith, of O’Fallon, Ill., hit 22 home runs, breaking a state record set way back in 1982 and drove in 69 runs. She hit .653 and wrapped up her second All-Metro Player of the Year accolade. She was a first-team All-Metro selection in 2009.
Smith’s numbers from this past season and her career numbers are ranked among the best in the state. Her .653 batting average in 2011 ranks No. 11 in state history.
Mount Vernon High School’s Kenzi Tate led her team to its first Class 3A softball sectional championship appearance this past spring and her career numbers rank her in the top three of almost every school pitching and hitting record.
Tate is Mount Vernon’s all-time leader in hits (157), doubles (43), home runs (22), RBI (153), pitching appearances (78), innings pitched (470), shutouts (28), strikeouts (689), wins (57), and lowest ERA (0.88).
Among Canary’s other 2011 signees are Kelsey Dixon, Lindsey Feigl, Sam McClure and Kaitlyn Reiff.
The Skyhawks finished third in the Ohio Valley Conference with an overall record of 34-24 and a league mark of 19-10. The team advanced to its ninth postseason OVC Tournament in the past 10 years. Four players — Jordan Garrett, Laurie Lindow, Chelsey Cary and Meg Latimer — exhausted their eligibility this past season.

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