With more than 18 months until Duke softball plays its first competitive game, head coach Marissa Young has begun shaping the program during her first year in Durham.
Since being hired in July 2015, Young has brought in her first recruiting class, filled out the coaching staff and took part in the groundbreaking of the University’s new softball stadium on East Campus—laying the foundation for what is to come in Spring 2018 when the Blue Devils play their first game.
“There was so much to tackle and to get up and going in those first eight months,” Young said. “I feel like we are in a good place now where we can kind of catch our breath and rather than ‘do, do, do,’ we have time to plan for what’s coming forward.”
A former North Carolina assistant coach, Young began to assemble her roster soon after she was hired, bringing in four recruits in the Class of 2016—Hannah Pridemore, Allison Florian, Emilie Cieslak and Jazmine Moreno. The quartet will arrive on campus in the fall and redshirt in its first year, representing several of the 12 scholarships Young and her staff can allot in the team’s first four years of competition.
Young said that she hopes to fill out the roster with approximately 15 players before the 2017-18 academic year.
During their redshirt year, Pridemore, Florian, Cieslak and Moreno will compete with Duke’s club softball team, which faces teams from Division II and Division III schools, and work closely with Young and her staff.
“They’re certainly going to get a lot of individual attention [early on],” Young said. “I think it’s going to be a good year for them to focus on their strength and conditioning, which is important to transitioning to the college level. Academically, they’ll be able to push ahead and then they’ll play with the club team, so they’ll get a chance to lead and travel and just get out onto the field.”
A native of Lithia, Fla., Pridemore headlines the recruiting class. She earned Hillsborough County Western Conference first-team honors in her junior season after leading the district with a .526 batting average while also posting a .628 slugging percentage and .529 on-base percentage.
The catcher and third baseman also enjoyed a fruitful club softball career, leading the Tampa Mustangs to the 2015 Premier Girls Fastpitch National Championship and finishing 17th with the Florida Fire at the 2012 Amateur Softball Association National Championship.
“We have really focused on utility players, versatile players,” Young said. “All of our pitchers hit and play another position, which is somewhat unique in softball—we really strategized about that.”
Florian also had a dominant high school career, garnering first-team Cabarrus County Dream Team accolades in 2015 and earning Offensive Player of the Year honors after batting .563 and posting a .859 slugging percentage.
The Kannapolis, N.C., native played in the infield and outfield and helped her club team—the Lady Lightning—to a fourth-place finish at the Triple Crown Nationals in 2015.
During her senior year, Cieslak led her high school squad in Washington Township, N.J., to a 31-3 record while sporting a .373 batting average and driving in 39 RBIs.
Moreno rounds out the class after leading her high school team to three Delta League Championships in Elk Grove, Calif., including one to cap off an undefeated season in 2015.
The catcher and outfielder had a .244 batting average and drove in 13 RBIs in 2015. Moreno also helped three different teams to top-25 finishes in national tournaments throughout her club career.
“We’ve tried to bring in as many [recruits] as we can with a good chunk of the [scholarship] money now, and each year we’ll phase more into it,” Young said. “Kids want to come here, and with Duke helping so much with financial need, it’s helping quite a bit.”
After signing the program’s first recruiting class, Young had to fill out her coaching staff in the spring.
The former Big Ten Player of the Year did not have to look far for answers, hiring former North Carolina graduate assistant Kate Kantor in February. Kantor was a two-time captain at Georgia Tech and worked with Young when Young was an assistant coach for the Tar Heels.
Not long after adding Kantor, Young hired another player who earned Big Ten Player of the Year honors during her time at Michigan—Amanda Chidester, who will serve as Duke’s infield and hitting coach.
The two-time All-American honoree and former Team USA member most recently competed in the Japanese Softball League.
“We’re building a culture here at Duke, and getting people who understand the things that I want coming in and know what I want to carry out with Duke softball going forward,” Young said. “Having worked with Kate Kantor at UNC, I knew we were on the same page, and having Amanda Chidester with her caliber—she’s played at the highest level and we both come from Michigan and a great program—we have a shared understanding of culture there as well.”
With players and coaches falling into place, the only thing missing for Duke’s newest team was a place to play.
In February, the Board of Trustees approved a plan to build the softball stadium behind the field hockey stadium on East Campus, and on May 23, the athletic department broke ground on the $8 million project.
The new stadium will feature a team clubhouse, batting cages and an entry plaza, and is expected to be completed by August 2017.
“We’ve been really involved in meetings for design and picking out all the minor details,” Young said. “Having seen the layout and knowing that [the stadium] is over there with field hockey, I’m hoping that we will be able to get the neighboring community and freshmen involved, captivated, coming out to games and on board with softball.”
Amrith Ramkumar contributed reporting.
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