MCC Softball adds five

(MERIDIAN) – Meridian Community College softball program added five players for the 2010-2011 season on Tuesday afternoon.

Head coach, Robert Eakins, added Marlena Clayton, Mallory Lowe, Heather Reed, Meredith Roberson, and Laura Taylor to the Lady Eagles program.

Clayton, an infielder, is a local that comes to MCC from West Lauderdale High School.

“We are looking for her to step in immediately and play one of our corner positions next season. She is a tough athlete and that attitude should bring her some quick success at this level. She will be working to fine tune her offensive game to this level of competition. Being a 3-4 year starter at West Lauderdale we are expecting her to step in here and make the adjustments at this level and not miss a beat,” said Eakins.

Lowe, a left-handed pitcher, is from Laurel, MS, a recent graduate of West Jones High School.

“We are looking her to step in and help us immediately on the mound. Our plans right now is to use her in relief and to give our pitching department should stability and endurance. She has good control and a great quality arm. The addition of her should lead to great improvements in our defensive stats,” said Eakins.

Reed, a middle-infielder, is a local that comes to MCC from Meridian High School.

“We will get a long look at her at second base and will work this fall to help her make the transition to this level of competition. We look forward to working with her because she great work ethics and want to excel at this level. Out of our incoming freshmen she has the potential to make the most impact on our team. She has a lot of natural ability and just need the opportunity to showcase those skills,” said Eakins.

Roberson, an outfielder, is from Batesville, MS and is a graduate of South Panola High School.

“After playing under Coach Ashleigh Hicks she will be vital to our rebuilding efforts. She knows what the work ethics it takes to build a program and play at a championship level. She is listed as an outfielder but could action at several positions for us. She is extremely versatile. She has enough experience to help us offensively and could crack the starting lineup early next season,” said Eakins.

Taylor, is a utility player, that comes to MCC from Lake High School.

“We will be looking at her in the middle infield in the fall to help fill a void there. Offensively she is a switch hitter and has been working on her slap hitting from the right side. We are hoping that we can finish developing her there so we can make her a part of offensive game plan for the upcoming season to help increase run production,” said Eakins.

“We look forward to adding these young ladies with great expectations. Hopefully you will hear a lot great things about all of them and us, as we work to rebuild this program that the NJCAA D-1 level. Again we look forward to working these young ladies. They all come from good background and programs. They all want to be here and are eager to get to work. With that combination we are looking for a lot of great things from them,” said Eakins.