Although the 2007 recruiting class consisted of just two players, it still managed to become the most successful class in Florida softball history.
Over the course of their careers, Corrie Brooks and Francesca Enea either tied or set school records for a four-year period with 233 wins, two Southeastern Conference regularseason championships, two SEC Tournament championships, four NCAA Super Regional appearances and three trips to Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series.
But through all that success, they never accomplished the ultimate goal of a national championship – a feat those who are returning will be hungry to achieve come 2011.
The 15 players returning to UF next season will be aided by the arrival of five highly touted recruits, who will be beginning a transformation coach Tim Walton hopes to put his team through over the next few years.
“The goal is in the next couple recruiting cycles to get more athletic,” Walton said. “I’m not putting any blame on anybody but we hit 109 home runs and we’re not beating out very many infield singles, so we’ve got to do some things a little bit differently.”
Walton clearly did a lot of his recruiting with that objective in mind, as each of the four position players who will be joining the team in 2011 has proven to be a threat on the basepaths.
The graduation of Enea and Brooks will also be addition by subtraction in that regard, as the pair combined for just seven stolen bases on nine attempts last season.
But that is not to say the seniors won’t be missed, as Brooks’ defensive prowess and Enea’s power will be difficult to replace.
“Those two did just a phenomenal job buying into what we were talking about in the early going,” Walton said. “It’s sad for them to be leaving us, but I’m very happy with their effort.”
For the first time since Feb. 9, 2008, the Gators will have someone other than Brooks manning third base, and the primary candidates at this point look to be rising junior Lauren Heil and incoming freshman Kasey Fagan.
“Lauren obviously has been working in our program for two years so she’ll get a chance to earn (the job), but Fagan coming in from Dunnellon High School is a pretty talented kid, so we’ll see how it goes,” Walton said.
The other primary challenge will be replacing the powerful bat of Enea, who established the SEC career record for home runs with 61 and the UF career record for RBIs with 221 during her time as a Gator.
At this point, the plan seems to be to slide the versatile Brittany Schutte, who set the UF freshman records for home runs (19) and RBIs (59) this season, from designated player out to Enea’s spot in left field.
“It’s going to be interesting to see what we can do with Schutte,” Walton said. “I really like what she can do at a lot of positions, but I think ideally she’d be in left field.”
Schutte’s move to the outfield would free up the designated player position for freshman Kelsey Horton, a backup catcher who slugged a team-leading .881 in limited playing time this season.
Another new face in the Gators’ starting lineup for 2011 could be incoming freshman Cheyenne Coyle, a shortstop and 2010 USA Softball Junior Women’s National Team camp invite who hit at a .526 clip and had a fielding percentage of .995 while playing at Chatsworth High School in West Hills, Calif.
It is clear that incumbent shortstop Brittany Walker, like every other player on this season’s roster, will have to fight for her job come next season.
