MIAMI, Fla. (February 4, 2021) – The 2021 Sun Conference softball season is here featuring nine team fighting for the TSC crown. Featuring three teams recognized in the 2021 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Preseason Poll, this year’s Sun Conference campaign should be an exciting one.
Here are some key players to watch in 2021.
Ave Maria
Kalie Romig
Graduate Student – Palm Harbor, Florida
5-5 – Outfielder
Romig, a two-time All-Sun Conference selection, was likely headed for an All-American season before the shutdown in 2020. The senior led the nation with 35 stolen bases, and ranked sixth in the nation in hits. She also led the Sun Conference with a .507 batting average.
Coastal Georgia
Mary Waldron
Senior – St. Augustine, Florida
5-5 – Utility
Waldron currently ranks first in the Mariner record books for career on base percentage (.509) and career hit by pitches (33). She also fourth in career-stolen bases (18) and fifth in both career batting average (.350) and runs scored (58). Waldron was a first team All-Sun Conference selection in 2019 and was named TSC Player of the Week during the 2020 season.
Keiser
Cheyenne Blumberg
Senior – Tampa, Florida
5-9 – Catcher/First Base
Last season Blumberg led the team in batting average (.450), doubles (5), runs batted in (21), and walks (9). She recorded six multiple hit games with a season-best three against Martin Methodist and Culver-Stockton. A 2019 First-Team NFCA All-Region selection as a junior, Blumberg was named Second-Team All-TSC as a junior.
Southeastern
Haleigh Harrell
Senior – Lakeland, Florida
5-10 – Outfielder/Utility
Harrell returns to the Fire after missing 2020 due to injury. The Sun Conference Freshman of the Year and Second-Team NAIA All-American in 2019, Harrell set the program record for hits in a season (79). As a freshman, she hit .305 with 15 doubles, three triples, two home runs, and 30 RBI.
St. Thomas
Rachael Samaniego
Senior – Port St. Lucie, Florida
5-3 – Infielder
Samaniego transferred to STU before the 2020 season and made an immediate impact for the Bobcats Tennis Team. Samaniego finished second on the team in batting average (0.327), tying for the team lead in hits (17), appeared in 19-games and was perfect in stolen base attempts.
Thomas
Makana Pember
Sophomore – Millbrae, Calif.
5-8 – Outfielder
Before COVID, Pember had a great NAIA season debut, as the Millbrae, Ca. native was second in the Sun Conference in stolen bases (16). Pember also had one of the Top 25 batting averages in The Sun Conference hitting .345. She finished the year with 15 runs scored and an on-base percentage of .455.
USCB
Ally Muraskin
Senior – Wellington, Florida
6-0 – Pitcher
Muraskin transferred from FIU and was the 2017 Gatorade Florida Player of the Year. Muraskin was a three-straight state champion and posted high school career stats of 450 innings, 818 strikeouts and a 0.44 ERA. Worked 68.2 innings and held batters to a .208 batting average to go along with her 1.43 ERA and 7-2 record in 2020.
Warner
Tiffany Dodson
Junior – Punta Gorda, Florida
5-11 – Pitcher
Dodson threw 62 innings only surrendering 4 earned runs and struck out 76 hitters including a 16 strikeout no hitter. Dodson held eight NAIA rankings inside of the top 46 players in the nation. Her top three were as follows… No. 3 in Earned Run Average (0.450), No. 5 in total Wins (10), No. 15 in Total Earned Runs Allowed (4).
Webber International
Victoria Atkinson
Senior – Leesburg, Florida
5-7 – Catcher
Atkinson will be a five-year starter and three-time team captain as a Warrior this year. She was a First-Team All-Sun Conference, TSC All-Tournament and NFCA All-Region II Second-Team player in 2019, and has won TSC Player of the Week twice in her career. She owns a .989 fielding percentage over four seasons and made zero errors in 2019 as a catcher.
The 2021 Sun Conference Softball regular season kicks off this weekend with non-conference action. League play begins Saturday, February 27.
ABOUT THE SUN CONFERENCE
Now entering its 31st year, The Sun Conference, a 501c3 organization, continues to be one of the most successful intercollegiate athletic conferences in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Under the guidance of Commissioner Dustin Wilke, the league sponsors championships in 18 NAIA sports: Baseball, Men’s and Women’s Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Men’s and Women’s Cross Country, Men’s and Women’s Golf, Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track and Field, Men’s and Women’s Soccer, Softball, Men’s and Women’s Tennis, Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field and Women’s Volleyball. Corporate sponsorship of the Conference has increased ten-fold; but most importantly, every Sun Conference member institution earned the NAIA’s prestigious 5-Star Champions of Character Award in each of the last five years. Learn more @ thesunconference.com
###