A new era in Winthrop softball begins in 2019 as Windy Thees took over for Mark Cooke, who roamed the Eagles dugout for 29 seasons. Thees takes over a program that has a strong core to build on in 2019 as nine starters return including the entire pitching staff and the team’s top batters. Thees brings 14 years of head coach-ing experience, having coached several games against the best competition col-legiate softball has to offer. Winthrop is looking for its first winning season since 2015 as Thees has high ex-pectations for this year’s group. “I always set my expectations really high, I’m one of those people if you’re going to play the game then you’re going to go for it. We’re going after a 30-win season, we’ve been so committed this fall and early spring.” The Eagles have not won 30 games in a season since 2008, but came close on three occasions. One of the things Cooke focused on was a tough non-conference schedule to prepare his team for league competition and Thees is no different having assembled a competitive schedule. One of the things that has changed is hitting and pitching philosophies. While the players went through a small struggle period, Thees said the players have re-sponded positively and have worked hard to make the changes. “Everything we’ve asked them to do they’ve latched on and

worked hard to perfect those skills.”

BEHIND THE PLATE For most of last season Ashley Westbrooks manned the spot behind home plate, but this year will be a differ-ent story. This year sophomore’s Logan Webb and Taylor Charlton will compete for the starting role. Thees has been very happy with their defensive play and that they’ve been able to communicate with her very well. Webb had a .981 fielding percentage last season as she made 17 starts and appeared in 26 games. Fresh-man Morgan Ayers will also provide depth behind the plate.

AROUND THE HORN Winthrop will field two All-Big South Conference performers at the corners as Ansley Gilreath will play first while West-brooks will start at third base this season. Gilreath had a breakout year in 2018 with 10 home runs and 27 RBI that led to her earning All-Big South Second Team honors. Westbrooks also earned All-Big South Second Team honors as she led the team in batting (.340), doubles (12) and runs (25) while finishing second with 26 RBI. Both are strong at the plate and defensively. Gilreath had a .993 fielding percentage in 48 starts and Westbrooks has a very strong arm. Thees feels the move to third base for Westbrooks will instantly improve the

team’s defense as her arm strength will make it much more difficult for teams to bunt for a hit. Not only will the Eagles be strong de-fensively at the corners, but the veteran duo of Blake Wallert and Brooke Ellison will provide a good defensive presence. Wallert has bounced around the infield in her career with most of the action at third and short as she’ll man the hole between second and third. Ellison missed

Ashley Westbrooks (above) earned All-Conference honors for a 2nd straight season after leading the team in batting, runs and finishing second in RBI

2019 Season OutlookNew Era Of Winthrop Softball Begins

Ansley Gilreath (above) had a breakout season at the plate finishing third on the team with a .265 average and led the team with 10 homeruns and 27 RBI. Gilreath also had a fielding percentage of .993 in 48 starts at first.

2019 Season Outlookthe 2018 season with an injury but had a solid sophomore season batting .243 with 18 runs, 10 doubles and 15 RBI as she didn’t have an error in the final 15 games of the year. Thees was happy with the way they played in the fall and in the spring. Jill Derrick who started 46 games last season will provide veteran depth at both short and second. Kamryn Culp and A.G. Gardner also provide depth at second.

IN THE OUTFIELD Like the infield, the outfield will be manned by a veteran group as junior Tori Walker will play in left, three-year starter Morgan Lowers will roam center and se-nior Keleigh Romine will play in right. Walker transferred into the program prior to her sophomore year and in her first season with the Eagles she batted .216

with 11 runs and six RBI in 36 starts as she missed some time with an injury. Lowers finished second on the team with a .287 average and had 14 runs and 13 RBI. Lowers had a .981 fielding percentage and had six assists from the outfield. Romine made the move to right field last season and gave the Eagles a defensive presence while also providing a solid bat at the plate (Finished with six doubles which ranked 4th on team). Makenzye Whitman, Reema Patel and Ayers will all provide depth in the outfield.

IN THE CIRCLE Kiley Majette leads an experienced pitching staff as she’s coming off a strong showing in 2018. Majette was 10-17 on the year but had a career-low 3.17 ERA and had 121 strikeouts to just 33 walks.

She’s approaching 400 career strikeouts and has 33 career wins. Last season Majette tossed two no-hitters, the first two of her collegiate career. Sabrina Shroades and Madyson Watson filled the second starter role in 2018. Shroades was 2-7 with a 3.22 ERA and made 10 starts with 19 appearances. Watson was 5-8 and made 13 starts with 19 appearances. Romine will also pro-vide depth in the circle as will freshman Bella Roy. Not only is there a lot of experience in the circle but Thees said some of the best batters from the fall and in the early spring are the pitchers. “Pitchers have been swinging the bat well in the fall and this spring as they’ve been putting in ex-tra work at the plate.” Roy is expected to push for some starts and relief appearances. Roy gen-erates a lot of movement with the ability to hit her spots. “When she’s hitting her spots she’s very tough to hit and very tough to time,” said Thees.

CHANGING OF THE GUARD Windy Thees was named the new head softball coach on June 5 as she replaced Mark Cooke, who retired after 29 seasons leading the Eagles and 33 years of collegiate softball. She came to the program after serving as an assistant coach at Utah State the past three sea-sons. This is the fourth head coach job for Thees, who has manned the bench at

2019 Season OutlookOle Miss, Memphis and Georgia College and State. Thees has 793 games as a head coach and holds an all-time record of 404-337 and 241-245 record at the NCAA D1 level. Thees is just the fourth different head coach the Eagles have had since mov-ing to the NCAA D1 level and becoming a member of the Big South Conference. Frankie Griffin led the Eagles into the NCAA D1 era while Cooke took over in 1990 and in 2015 was co-head coach with Kendall Fuller for three seasons before Fuller’s departure before Cooke’s final season. Winthrop has the most victories all-time among current members of the Big South Conference with 825 and second most conference wins (233) among ac-tive members. Only Coastal Carolina has more regular season championships than the Eagles. Thees was the first head coach in Memphis softball history as he helped the program build from the ground up begin-ning in 2005. By 2011 she had the Tigers at 36-14 and making their first NCAA Tournament appearance. While at Ole Miss she led the team to five wins over nationally-ranked opponents that includ-ed a 2-0 win at #1 Florida in 2014.

Morgan Lowers (right) is a three-year starter in center and has the most career hits on the current roster with a chance to reach 200 in her career with a good senior season at the plate.

KEY NON-BIG SOUTH MATCHUPS

Friday/Saturday, Feb. 15-16 at #6/10 Georgia (Athens, GA) The Eagles head back to the Red & Black Showcase to take on the Bulldogs twice as well as Buffalo and Omaha. Eagles looking for their first win over Georgia since Feb. 16, 2007. Last season Georgia’s seasons came to an end in the College World Series as the Bulldogs won 48 games.

Sunday, Feb. 24 /Wednesday, Mar. 6 vs. South Carolina (Charlotte, NC/Columbia, SC) The Eagles will face the nationally-ranked Gamecocks twice this season with the first meeting coming on the final day of the First Pitch Classic hosted by the Charlotte 49ers. Winthrop will then head to Columbia on Mar. 6 for its first midweek contest of the season. South Carolina advanced to the Super Regionals in 2018 before falling to Arizona State. The Game-cocks finished with a 49-17 record and ranked 9th in the RPI.

Friday-Sunday, Mar. 1-3 at East Carolina Puple-Gold Invitational (Greenville, NC) This is the Eagles first trip to Greenville, NC since the 1999 season when the team played a doubleheader against the Pirates. ECU is a former Big South member that spent four seasons in the league on its way to three titles in that span. The Pirates have a strong tradition and will be one of the more formidable non-conference opponents this season.

Wednesday, Mar. 20 at North Carolina State (Raleigh, NC) Eagles square off against a strong Wolfpack program with high expectations in 2019. The two teams were set to play in 2018 in Rock Hill but the game was canceled due to rain. This will mark the 7th meeting as the Eagles are 1-5 all-time against the Wolfpack.

Wednesday, Mar. 27 at Coastal Carolina (Conway, SC) Eagles keep their rivalry with the Chanticleers alive with a single-game. This marks the 112th meeting between the two programs as they split a doubleheader in Rock Hill last season. It was the second straight year the two teams split a doubheleader in a midweek matchup. 0