Revamped roster gets boost from ASU's Cowles
When the 2008 Chicago Bandits take the field at Judson University for their home opener tonight, the National Pro Fastpitch team will have a decidedly new look for its fans in Elgin.
The revamped roster includes 11 newcomers, the most recent addition being infielder Mindy Cowles, who just capped off her college career at Arizona State University with a NCAA World Series title.
Named the 2008 PAC-10 Defensive Player of the Year, Cowles broke the all-time record for home runs at ASU en route to a .337 season batting average which included 11 doubles, and a team-high 11 home runs.
Back in blue and orange are infielders are former college standouts Laura Harms (Bradley), Vicky Galindo (California-Berkeley), Jaime Clark (Washington), Kristie Fox (Arizona) and Stacy May (Iowa).
Harms, an infield/utility player who hit .223 in 2007 with 23 hits, made Bandits history in 2005 as the first player to cross the plate for the program.
Galindo was named to the NPF all-star team in 2005, leading the Bandits in 5 categories including hits (33), doubles (8), triples (3), batting average (.402) and runs (21). The second/third baseman hit .247 in 2007.
Clark is a shortstop, first baseman selected to the All-NPF team in 2007 after hitting .303 with a team-leading 24 RBI. Fox hit .310 with a slugging percentage and on-base percentage of .380 and will alternate between second base and shortstop. May (IF) led the Bandits last year with 133 plate-appearances racking up 39 hits, 19 runs and 19 RBI hitting .293. In 2006, she received the Nokona American Glove Award as Rookie of the Year and earned All-NPF team honors.
New to the infield lineup are Samantha Findlay (Michigan) and Aileen Morales (Georgia Tech). At Michigan, Findlay was an NFCA all-American and All-Big Ten first team unanimous selection. With a career-high .382 average, she led the Wolverines in her final season with 21 homers. Her career 62 home runs, 217 RBI and 156 walks are in the UM record books. Morales packs some speed, stealing 46 bases while hitting .349.
The Bandits will unveil a bevy of new arms inside the circle behind a completely renovated pitching staff. With Jennie Finch bound for Beijing as a member of Olympic Team USA, Jessica Sallinger is the lone returning pitcher.
Last year, Sallinger had a 1.34 ERA, fanning 78 batters in 104 innings. While the NPF league is minus several star this year due to the Olympics, Finch will return to the Bandits later this season. She signed a 3-year deal over Memorial Day weekend.
Amanda Freed (UCLA), Kristina Thorson (California-Berkley), Jamie Southern (Fresno State) and Tracie Adix (DePaul) join the Bandits pitching staff. Both Freed (3.18 ERA) and Thorson (1.22 ERA) bring professional experience playing for the Rockford Thunder and Philadelphia Force respectively last year. With 12 complete games and 115 strikeouts, Thorson was an NPF-All-Star choice.
Southern was the first WAC softball player to collect player and pitcher of the week honors in the same week while maintaining a .381 batting average. Big East Pitcher of the Year, Adix led the Blue Demons with a 22-4 record and a .089 ERA fanning 168 hitters in 2007.
The opposite end of the battery will be anchored by returning catcher Pepper Wilson (Longwood) who will guide new talents Emily Nichols (Iowa) and Rachel Folden (Marshall). Nichols was recently named 2008 USA Softball Player of the Year and holds Iowa's career home record with 33. In her junior year, Folden hit a career-high .407 with a league-leading slugging percentage of .758.
Covering the outfield will be returnees Nicole Trimboli (Nebraska), Caitlin Lever (Canadian National Team) and Lindsay Schutzler (Tennessee) along with newcomers Ashley Carlson (Radford) and Auriel Jenkins (Southern Mississippi).
A two-year coach at Radford University, head coach Mickey Dean returns to the helm of the Bandits for season four. The 2005 and 2006 NPF Manager of the Year, Dean became the sole manager of the Bandits in 2007 and has helped Radford to 90 wins in two seasons.