Chad Schatz, most recently an assistant coach at Detroit Mercy, died on March 29th following a battle with cancer. Schatz was 58 years old. A graduation of Truman State University, Schatz spent a majority of his career coaching in his home state of Missouri. In addition to stints as an assistant coach at Missouri S&T and Columbia College, Schatz also spent a decade as an assistant coach at the University of Missouri. During his tenure, Schatz was part of a Big 12 championship-winning team and helped guide the Tigers to the Women’s College World Series. Most recently, Schatz had been…
Author: jmcleod
The JWOS Player of the Week award will be shared for the second consecutive week, as Florida International’s Jackie Schoff and LSU’s Shelbi Sunseri have been announced as the co-recipients of the award for week eight of the regular season. Schoff helped her team to a midweek split against #4 Florida and a series victory over Marshall in conference play. The speedy outfielder went hitless in the first game against Florida, but recorded four straight multi-hit games to close the weekend. In the second game of the doubleheader against the Gators, Schoff went 2-4 with two RBI and a run-scoring double…
South Carolina collectively shocked the softball universe by not just winning the first game of their series against then-#2 Tennessee, and not even just winning the series, but by sweeping the Lady Vols in the three-game set and outscoring UT 28-16. The Gamecocks capped the series with a run-rule win in game three, coming from behind and putting a hurtin’ on the Lady Vols with a lopsided 15-5 final score. How sweep it was in Bloomington and Seattle, too, as the Indiana Hoosiers and Washington Huskies enjoyed sweeps of their own against top teams. Indiana, who suffered through the pre-conference portion of…
Arizona State pitcher Giselle “G” Juarez and George Washington infielder Jenna Cone have been named the Justin’s World of Softball Co-Players of the Week. Juarez pitched in each of her team’s three games against California, earning two wins and a save. The pulse of her team for much of the 2018 season, the sophomore continued her impressive work in the circle this week. Pitching in relief in the first extra-inning game of the series, Juarez threw three innings and struck out eight of the nine batters that she faced. A day later, she went all ten innings for her team, allowing…
If you asked most softball fans, they would not consider George Mason to be one of the top softball programs. Usually mid-pack in the Atlantic 10 conference, the Patriots typically find themselves somewhere in the category of a team that is never irrelevant, but doesn’t really challenge on a larger stage. Over the past two seasons, pitcher Marina Vitalich has done her best to change that pattern and position her team for a postseason run. She is a player that Mason head coach Joe Verbanic expects to “shatter records” and has firmly entrenched herself as one of the best hurlers…
Who is she? Courtney Liddle, a former star catcher and first baseman for the Virginia Tech Hokies. What is she known for? Liddle was a four-year starter for the Hokies, alternating between the first base and catching positions throughout her career. She was three times an all-conference selection and earned a trio of all-region honors. Liddle hit thirty-two home runs during her career as a Hokie, and ended her career at VT in first place in three program career statistical categories and in the top five in seven other categories. In 2013, Liddle was drafted with the 18th overall pick by the NY/NJ…
It’s hard to believe it, but the 2018 season is already half over. And you know what that means: It’s time for our Mid-Season Award presentations. If the season ended today, these are the players and coaches that you could see taking home some major hardware. Coach of the Year Winner: Heather Tarr, Washington Tarr’s Huskies lost their best hitter to graduation after last season and saw starting catcher and offensive stalwart Morganne Flores go down with a torn ACL just weeks before the season began. In the preseason, Tarr said that one of her team’s biggest challenges was going to…
Former Saint Louis softball star Laura Bohning was the focus of an answer* in the first round of questions on the classic game show Jeopardy! in an episode that aired on Tuesday. In the category entitled “Home Run”, the answer read ‘In the 7th inning of a 2013 NCAA softball game, St. Louis’ Laura Bohning put 8 runs on the board with 2 of these.” The correct response: “What is a grand slam?” The trivia refers to a game that took place on May 3, 2013. Against Rhode Island, Bohning hit two grand slams as part of a 12-run seventh…
The PAC-12 conference season got underway, and UCLA and Washington saw their winning streaks come to an end. The last two undefeated teams in Division I, both the Bruins and the Huskies not only each lost their first games of the year, but both teams lost their three-game conference-opening series’. UCLA handily beat Oregon in their first game, but were handled by the Ducks in back-to-back matchups to close the weekend. Arizona State and Giselle Juarez masterfully held Washington at bay in the first and last games of their own three-game set, with only a UDub 7-0 shutout win in…
Fresno State senior Savannah McHellon has been named the JWOS Player of the Week after a power-filled performance in her team’s games over the weekend. McHellon hit .429 on the weekend, with four home runs spread out across her team’s quartet of games. She also appeared twice in the pitching circle, pitching seven innings and striking out eight, while allowing just six hits and four runs. In her team’s opening game of the weekend against Illinois, McHellon went 2-4 with a grand slam home run and a double. She appeared in the pitching circle in relief duty and allowed three…