Date: 2/8
Position: Outfielders

Returning Letterwinners (Key stats): Victoria Ortiz*, R-So. (42-36 GP-GS, .357 avg, 46 hits, 25 runs, 17 2Bs, 6 HRs, 24 RBI, 81 total bases, .628 SLG%, .415 OB%), Amanda Flynn, Sr. (25-25 GP-GS, .343 avg, 24 hits, 10 runs, 2 2Bs, 1 3B, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 31 TB, .443 SLG%, .418 OB%, 3-5 SB-SBA); Mackenzie Brasher, So. (25-21 GP-GS, .299 avg, 20 hits, 12 runs, 5 RBI, 5 BB, 4-5 SB-SBA); Shelby Sloan, R-Fr. (5-5 GP-GS, .294 avg, 5 hits, 3 runs, 1 HR, 3 RBI, .471 SLG%, 1-1 SB-SBA); Caroline Nichols, Jr. (19-7 GP-GS, 4 runs, 3 BB);

* - Stats from 2019 season.

Letterwinners lost (Key stats): MC Nichols (25-25 GP-GS, .292 avg, 26 hits, 1 2B, 1 3B, 6 RBI, 10 BB, 3 HBP, 7-8 SB-SBA)

Newcomers (Yr., Previous school): Bailey Welch (Fr., Hueytown, Ala.)

Miscellaneous Notes
- The position will look to replace one letterwinner from a year ago, MC Nichols (graduation), who started 141 games including 99 in center field over the span of her Jaguar career.
- South does return a pair of players – Victoria Ortiz and Shelby Sloan – in the outfield who either missed the entire 2020 or a majority of it.
- Ortiz missed the entire season after recovering from a knee injury a season after she was named the Sun Belt's Freshman of the Year and earned first-team all-conference honors becoming just the fourth freshman in program history to do so, joining Haley Fagan (2013), Chloe Rathburn (2014) and Kalen McGill (2015).
- Ortiz batted .357 – second best on the club – during the 2019 season and tied for the Sun Belt Conference lead in doubles (17), which co-set a program single season and established a new freshman record at South Alabama.
- Her .628 slugging percentage was second best in the Sun Belt and set a new single-season mark at South.
- Last season, Sloan started the first five games of the season with four of those starts coming in the outfield, before sustaining a shoulder injury that ended her season.
- In those five games, Sloan batted .294 with a home run, three RBI and three runs scored, while also registering a .471 slugging percentage, and was named to the NFCA Division I Leadoff Classic all-tournament team.
- Amanda Flynn led the club in hitting with a .343 batting average, while her 24 hits tied for second most on the team.
- Her 24 hits also tied for eighth most in the Sun Belt Conference, while she was one of the Jags' best situational hitters, batting .351 with runners on base, a team-high .433 with runners in scoring position, and a .370 hitter in two-out situations. Of her nine RBI, six came with two outs, which tied for the most on the club.
- Mackenzie Brasher started 21 of the 25 games that she played as a true freshman last season with all of those starts coming in left field. The Gulf Shores, Ala., native had five multi-hit outings.
Her six-game hit streak during the season tied for highest total on the team, while her 10-game reached base safely streak was third-highest on the club, and eight of her 20 hits came with two outs
- Welch arrives in Mobile after being nationally rated by Extra Innings Softball as top 200 softball players in the 2020 class entering her senior season.
- In 13 games of her senior-shortened season, she batted .667, a year after earning honorable mention all-state honors from the Alabama Sports Writers Association as an outfielder and being named a first-team Birmingham all-region selection after batting .541.
- She participated in the AISA All-Star Game during the summer prior to her senior season, and prior to the June event, won the AISA Junior Class Home Run Derby

Head coach Becky Clark
-On having Victoria Ortiz return to the lineup this season after missing last season with an injury:
"Losing Vic last season was a big blow from both an offensive and defensive standpoint. The numbers she put up as a freshman were hard to replace, so it is a big boost for us to have her back in the lineup and on the field. I think she also brings a lot from a leadership standpoint both offensively and defensively with her effort and focus. I anticipate her being an integral part of our success this season."
-On replacing MC Nichols:
"We have a lot of talent in our outfield and any of the six could play center field if I needed them to, but the ones who have stood out the most are [Bailey] Welch, [Mackenzie] Brasher, and [Pepper] Nichols. All three of them have their own individual strengths and bring something unique to the position. Welch has been incredibly consistent with her mental and physical effort, which I think, is critical in that position. She has great fundamentals and a high softball IQ. Brasher has great speed and range and covers a lot of ground. She isn't afraid to get on the ground if needed and will make some of the plays in the gap that a lot of outfielders can't make. Nichols is super competitive and brings that mentality to the outfield. She understands the game and brings an intelligent approach to the situational aspect of it. Ultimately all three can run down a ball in the gap and bring a good situational understanding to the game."
-On Amanda Flynn's growth last season:
"Flynn was having a great season and was leading the team in average when we shut down. I think the biggest step forward for her was choosing an aggressive mindset. She figured out how to bring that on a consistent basis and that has been the biggest difference for her. I'm proud of her for the progress she has made and looking forward to a great season for her."
-On Shelby Sloan and Mackenzie Brasher:
"Last year when we lost Vic, Shelby stepped in and did a great job filling that void. Unfortunately, we lost her too with the season-ending injury. She rehabbed and is cleared and playing at 100%. Shelby is a competitor and brings a lot of offense to our lineup. Her aggressiveness at the plate is something that is hard to teach. Defensively, she has a big arm and covers a lot of ground. Brasher is super athletic and uses her speed to create opportunities offensively and shut down innings with her defense. She is one of our best baserunners and understands how to create opportunities for the hitters behind her. Both of them are incredibly talented and will be a big part of our success this season."

Senior Amanda Flynn
-On what led to her having the production she did a year ago and how she plans on building off that performance this season:
"I felt like I was just very relaxed at the plate last season. I started the "shuffle" which is a new type of footwork that I started using instead of "slapping". One area where I've improved heading into this season is in my ability to see the ball better. I got contacts during the offseason and I'm seeing the ball even better now. I look for that to help me hit the ball even better than I did last season."
-On what she's done to put herself in position to be a leader for the outfield group:
"I've just tried to help everyone communicate out there. We only have one new player in the group, two if you count Pepper [Caroline Nichols] moving out there. I'll pull Bailey [Welch] to the side and help her understand what we're trying to do. We're a pretty close group, so we try to help each other out. It's not really a thing of one person being above the others. We're all in it together."
-On what it means for the position group and the team to have Victoria Ortiz and Shelby Sloan healthy and back in the lineup this season:
"They are both very important players for us in the lineup. They both have a lot of power. They also have some of the strongest arms in the outfield, so having both of them is big for us."

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the Bullpen Club, the softball specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund.  Members have access to purchase parking passes and receive Jaguar Softball gear.  All donations to the Bullpen Club go directly to support the South Alabama softball program.  For more information on how you can join visit:  jaguarathleticfund.com/bullpenclub.

—USA—