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Bradenton, Fla - The SCF softball team look to put the 2022 season behind and focus on the 2023 season. The Manatees will open on neutral grounds as they travel to Clearwater for the traditional three-day Adidas JUCO Kickoff Classic and Showcase at the Eddie C. Moore Softball Complex. They will face East Florida State College(12:30 pm) and Gulf Coast State (5:30 pm) on day one before playing Georgia Highlands (1:30 pm) and St. John's River State (4 pm) on day two.
The following is the list of teams joining SCF:
#12 College of Central Florida
Daytona State College
Eastern Florida State College
#1 Florida Southwestern State College
Georgia Highlands College (GA)
Georgia Military College (GA)
Gulf Coast State College
Indian River State College
Lake-Sumter State College
Miami Dade College
Northwest Florida State College
Parkland College (IL)
Pasco-Hernando State College
Pensacola State College
Santa Fe College
Seminole State College (FL)
South Georgia State College (GA)
St Johns River State College
St Petersburg College
Tallahassee Community College
University of SC Union (SC)
Eastern Florida State College
#1 Florida Southwestern State College
Georgia Highlands College (GA)
Georgia Military College (GA)
Gulf Coast State College
Indian River State College
Lake-Sumter State College
Miami Dade College
Northwest Florida State College
Parkland College (IL)
Pasco-Hernando State College
Pensacola State College
Santa Fe College
Seminole State College (FL)
South Georgia State College (GA)
St Johns River State College
St Petersburg College
Tallahassee Community College
University of SC Union (SC)
Last Time Out:
The Manatees are coming off of finishing last season 25-25 overall with a 6-13 record in the Suncoast Conference. It was the second straight season where they failed to qualify for the NJCAA Region 8/FCSAA State Tournament.
Conference Tweaks:
With the 2023 season up and running, this also means that there will be changes for it. For the start of the season, all the conferences (both DI and DII) have been tweaked. #1 Florida Southwestern, the two-time reigning and defending NJCAA JUCO Softball World Series Champions, will be leaving the Suncoast Conference and move to the Southern Conference.
The following is where the teams are going to as listed:
Mid-Florida -
College of Central Florida
Daytona State College
Santa Fe College
Seminole State College (FL)
Panhandle -
Pensacola State
Northwest Florida State
Tallahassee CC
Chipola College
Gulf Coast State
Southern -
Florida Southwestern
Miami Dade
Eastern Florida State
Indian River State
Suncoast -
SCF
Polk State
Hillsborough
St. Pete
DII -
Pasco-Hernando State
Florida State College at Jacksonville
St. John's River State
Lake Sumter State
South Florida State
Fun Fact:
SCF is 7-2 in their season opener and 28-16 at the JUCO Kickoff Classic.
Meet the Coaches:
The Manatees are lead by head coach Mandy Schuerman, who enters her eighth season as head coach and is ranked the third winningest head coach in SCF Softball program history. In fact, Schuerman has 239 wins so far in her career and need only two to surpass Meredith Headings (240, 2007-14) for second all-time.
Schuerman is joined by associate head coach Tony Cummings and first-year assistant coaches Shannon Eckaus and Samantha Hampton.
Meet the Newcomers:
With the departures of Gracie Mullett, Mikayla DiSantis, Riley Trice, Alli Bloski and Hannah Murray, and Remi Hebert switching to play with the SCF beach volleyball team, Schuerman was able to land seven newcomers to join the team.
Taylor Halback:
A local catcher/utility player from Venice, Halback joins after graduating from Venice High School and reunites with sophomores and Venice alum Liv Siebert and Jordan O'Brien.
Halback played three years on varsity where she averaged a career .295 with 31 hits, two home runs and 22 RBI. As a member of the Indians, she helped lead them to the regional finals of the FHSAA 6A State Tournament and the FHSAA 7A State Tournament regional quarterfinals.
Maddisan Noriega:
An outfielder from Fort Worth, Texas, Noriega joins the Manatees after graduating from Timber Creek High School in Fort Worth. In fact, she is the first player from Texas to play with the Manatees.
As a member of the Falcons, Noriega had a career batting average of .357 with 51 hits, 23 RBI and 10 stolen bases while leading them to two straight appearances to the Texas UIL 6A Region 1 and 3 State Tournament. Her senior year was her most productive as she finished batting .378 with 41 hits, 17 RBI and 31 runs while leading the team to the regional finals of the 2022 Texas UIL 6A Region 1 and 3 State Tournament.
Karsyn Rutherford:
A local left-handed pitcher/utility player, Rutherford joins Halback from Venice High School and is also reuniting with Siebert and O'Brien.
Rutherford was the ace for the Indians on the mound and finished her career 30-5 overall with a 2.14 ERA, 47 walks and 133 strikeouts while batting .263 with 26 hits and eight RBI and leading them to the FHSAA 6A and 7A State Tournament. Her junior year was her most productive as she went 17-4 with a 2.42 ERA, 26 walks and 64 strikeouts in 112.1 innings.
Stephanie Oaks:
A slapping outfielder from Tallahassee, Oaks joins the team after graduating from Florida State University High School. In six seasons with the Seminoles (7th-12 grade), Oaks batted a .370 career average with 107 hits and 40 RBI while leading them to six straight appearances in the FHSAA 3A and 4A District and State Tournaments.
Haley Rosenbaum:
An infielder from Mayo, Florida, Rosenbaum joins after graduating from Lafayette High School. In fact, she graduated with fellow Lafayette alum and SCF volleyball player Emily Lyons.
Rosenbaum was a three-sport athlete for the Hornets playing volleyball, basketball and softball. In fact, Rosenbaum and Lyons both played volleyball, basketball and softball together on the same team.
With the volleyball team, she played middle blocker for her lone season where she had 76 kills, 92 digs, 63 blocks and 48 aces while helping them to the FHSAA 1A State Tournament.
With basketball, she played five seasons where she averaged 9.8 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.1 steals per game with her most productive years her senior year where she averaged 13.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 5.9 steals per game. She also helped lead the Hornets to five straight appearances in the FHSAA 1A State Tournament.
In softball, she played three years on varsity for the Hornets where she had batted .348 in her career with 54 hits, three home runs, 33 RBI, 63 runs and 29 stolen bases while she helped them to the FHSAA 1A State Tournament.
Brielle Bostow:
A pitcher/utility player from Tarpon Springs, Bostow joins after graduating from East Lake High School. With the Eagles, she helped them to appearances in the FHSAA 8A State Tournament before parting ways from the team to instead play travel ball.
Vanessa Neptune:
An infielder/catcher from New Port Richey, Neptune joins the Manatees after graduating from J.W. Mitchell High School. Neptune was a two-sport athlete playing both basketball as well as softball. Additionally, she follows the footsteps of her older sister and SCF alum, Kassidy (2015-16).
With the basketball team, she averaged 3.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game while helping the Mustangs to three straight appearances in the FHSAA 6A District Tournament with her most productive year being her senior year where she averaged six points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game.
In softball, Neptune played all four years on varsity where batted a career .349 with 96 hits, six home runs, 70 RBI and a .530 slugging percentage while leading the Mustangs to one appearance in the FHSAA 7A State Tournament and two final four appearances in the FHSAA 6A State Tournament.
Alissa Kessler:
A local first baseman from Bradenton, Kessler joins the Manatees after transferring from Florida Atlantic University. She will have two years of eligibility remaining. She did not play for the Owls.
Prior to signing with FAU, Kessler played at Bradenton Christian School for seven seasons on varsity (6th-12th grade) where she finished her career with a .419 career batting average, 142 hits, 17 home runs, 100 RBI, 134 runs scored and 25 stolen bases in 103 games played while also helping the Panthers to trips to the FHSAA 2A and 3A State Tournaments.
Historically, Kessler is the first NCAA DI player to join the Manatees softball program, the first NCAA transfer to join the Manatees since Erika Shick (2013-14 from NCAA DII University of Tampa) and the first NCAA transfer to play for Schuerman.
Returning Blood:
With the seven newcomers joining, Schuerman was able to bring back nine sophomores: Presley O'Kimosh, Olivia 'Liv' Siebert, Tori Copeland, Jordan 'JoJo' Brien, Renee Dixon, Molly Starinsky, Gabi Nicholson, Chantel Schurr and Sam Carlin.
After rotating between catcher and utility player, O'Kimosh finished her freshman campaign batting .209 with 18 hits, one home run, 10 RBI and 11 runs.
Siebert, the primary speed runner, batted .330 with 37 hits, 10 RBI, 28 runs and 25 stolen bases. At the end of her freshman season, the Venice native was named on the All-Suncoast Second Team.
After transferring from Warner last season, Copeland, a primary contact hitter, finished her freshman campaign batting .318 with 42 hits, two home runs, 14 RBI, 23 runs and 13 stolen bases. She joined Siebert on the All-Suncoast Second Team.
O'Brien played in four games with one hit, one run and one stolen base before redshirting the remainder of the season due to a shoulder injury. She will have two years of eligibility with the Manatees.
Primarily playing as a defensive substitution, Dixon played in 10 games where she scored one run in the season.
After transferring from Suncoast rival Polk State, Starinsky, who also played majorly as a pinch runner and defensive substitute, played in 15 games with one hit, three runs, one stolen base and one RBI.
Nicholson finished her freshman campaign batting .220 with 27 hits, two home runs, 23 RBI and eight stolen bases.
After transferring from Jones College, the 2021 NJCAA JUCO College Softball World Series runner-up, Schurr returns to the Manatees after finishing her first season with them batting .258 with 32 hits, four home runs, 22 RBI and 12 stolen bases.
Carlin, who rotated between outfielder and pitching, finished her freshman campaign batting .162 with six hits and two RBI while on the mound she threw a 9.33 ERA with six strikeouts and six walks in six innings of relief.
Scouting Eastern Florida State:
The Lady Titans are lead by head coach Shelby Petik, who enters her second year as head coach and are coming off of finishing last season 26-24 overall with a 14-12 record in the Southern Conference.
Key returners for the Lady Titans include first baseman/pitcher Makenzie Fore (.352, 43 hits, three home runs, 27 RBI and 33 runs scored/2-1, 2.07 ERA, 14 walks and 23 strikeouts; All-Southern Conference First Team), infielder Brooke Theisen (.416, 62 hits, one home run, 21 RBI, 44 runs and 19 stolen bases; All-Southern Conference First Team, FCSAA All-State Second Team), pitcher Mandy Hedetniemi-Taylor (13-6, 2.13 ERA, 19 complete games, 56 walks and 123 strikeouts; All-Southern Conference First Team), pitcher Trinity Howard (6-15, 12 complete games, 4.62 ERA, 57 walks and 63 strikeouts; All-Southern Conference Second Team) and catcher Rachel Lamoureaux (.270, 24 hits, 10 RBI and 18 runs; All-Southern Conference Second Team).
The Manatees are 9-4 against the Titans.
Scouting Gulf Coast State:
The Commodores are coming off of finishing last season 39-18 overall with an 8-12 record in the Panhandle Conference. They are lead by head coach Scott Thomas, who enters his fourth season as head coach for the Commodores. Furthermore into last season, the Commodores failed to qualify for the FCSAA State Tournament.
Key returners for the Commodores include Cassidy Boltz (.318, 56 hits, four home runs and 46 RBI; All-Panhandle Second Team), Collier Peaden (.424, 86 hits, 29 RBI and 39 stolen bases; All-Panhandle First Team) and Jabby Terrell (.371, 66 hits, 30 RBI, 32 stolen bases; All-Panhandle First Team).
Overall, the Manatees are 3-2 against the Commodores.
Scouting Georgia Highlands:
Georgia Highlands hails from Rome, Georgia and like East Georgia State they represent NJCAA Region 17. They are lead by first-year head coach Jordan Thornton, who was the assistant coach for the last three seasons.
The Chargers finished last season 16-36 overall with a 9-15 record in conference. They did not qualify for the GCAA State Tournament.
Key returners for the Chargers include Ansley Todd (.276, 40 hits, one home run and 15 RBI; All-GCAA Second Team), Bradley Tharp (.267, 32 hits, one home run and 12 RBI) and Katie Traynor (1-0, 7.37 ERA, 23 walks and 14 strikeouts).
This will be the second time the Manatees face the Chargers as they hold a 1-0 lead. The first time both teams met was on January 28, 2017 where the Manatees won 4-3 coincidentally at the JUCO Kickoff Classic.
Scouting St. John's River:
The Vikings are lead by first-year head coach Joe Pound. Pound spent the last four seasons as their hitting coach.
The Vikings are coming off of finishing last season 23-33 overall with a 9-11 record in the Mid-Florida Conference. They did not make the FCSAA State Tournament.
Key returners include Alyssa Taylor (.317, 39 hits, eight home runs and 21 RBI; All-Mid-Florida First Team) and Emily Stewart (.319, 60 hits, four home runs and 28 RBI; All-Mid-Florida First Team).
The Manatees are 10-8 against the Vikings. Last time both teams met was at 2022 JUCO Kickoff Classic where the Manatees won 7-5.
How to Keep Up:
Fans can watch the games livestream on FloSoftball and follow livestats on GameChanger. They can also keep up with the team on all social media platforms:
Livestream Link - https://www.flosoftball.com/watch
GameChanger - https://gc.com/t/spring-2023/state-college-of-florida-softball-23-manatees-varsity-63d22260b6ee00dbd9000001
Social Media:
Twitter - https://twitter.com/SCFSoftball (@SCFSoftball)
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/scf_sb/ (@SCF_SB)
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