By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech softball coach Michelle DePolo and her staff are building for the future, pulling together nine signees for the Class of 2022. Among the group are state champions, highly-decorated players, record holders and more as the Golden Eagles look to create depth and a framework back to the top of the Ohio Valley Conference.
The additions include:
Ella Bishop | INF | 5-4 | Cottontown, Tenn.
With a season remaining on the prep level at Beech High School, Bishop had an excellent junior campaign in 2021, hitting .439 with a .491 on-base percentage and .776 slugging mark, earning MVP, all-district and all-county honors. She helped Beech earn a district runner-up spot last season.
Bishop competes on the club level for Tennessee Mojo.
Olivia Evans | OF | 5-3 | Hillsboro, Tenn.
A three-year standout at Coffee County Central High, Evans had a great effort at the plate in her junior season, putting together a .523 batting average with four doubles, four triples, a home run and 22 RBI. She was also a threat on the bases, stealing 11 and coming home to score 38 times. In her prep career thus far, she has a .468 batting average with 23 RBI and 50 runs scored. She helped lead Coffee County to two district crowns and a TSSAA state runner-up last season. Evans holds the school's single-season batting average record and was named the district's Offensive Player of the Year as well as an all-district pick. She competes on the club level for Georgia Impact-Caymol.
Avery Flatford | P | 5-6 | Knoxville, Tenn.
A highly-decorated pitcher out of the Knoxville area, Flatford had a tremendous season for Farragut High School in 2021, going 22-0 in the circle with three no-hitters. Across 141 innings, she collected 285 strikeouts and posted a 1.34 ERA, leading Farragut to the TSSAA Class AAA state title. She went 4-0 in the state tournament, striking out 39 across 29 frames, allowing just four total runs.
Flatford was named all-state by the Tennessee Softball Coaches Association and the Tennessee Sports Writers Association, the TNSCA Class AAA Miss Softball for East Tennessee, first team by the Knoxville News Sentinel's PrepXtra and by 5-Star Preps – also earning the website's Pitcher of the Year honor. She was named an All-American by Extra Inning Softball and ranked No. 96 on its Elite 100.
On the club level, she has competed with Frost Falcons and Firecrackers-Pantages/Romero.
Tristen Head | C | 5-4 | Wright City, Mo.
A career .393 hitter on the prep level, Head had a strong season in her last campaign. She posted a .537 batting average with 22 singles, four doubles, three triples and seven home runs, while also collecting a .587 on-base percentage. She helped lead Wright City High to conference titles, earning three all-conference and all-district honors, two all-region and two all-state nods.
She has competed on the club level for St. Louis Chaos 04.
Sarah Livingston | OF | 5-6 | Knoxville, Tenn.
Livingston had a great season as a junior for Farragut High, posting a .461 batting average, .596 slugging percentage and a .514 on-base percentage. An all-district honorable mention in 2019 and 2021, Livingston was a key part of Farragut's state title run in 2021, claiming district, region and substate titles along the way.
On the club level, Livingston has competed with Atlanta Premier Elite.
Madison Scott | INF | 5-8 | Adelaide, South Australia
A member of the 2019 Australian Junior National Team, Scott has played the last two seasons at Odessa College, helping lead the team to conference and regional tournament titles and an appearance in the 2021 NJCAA World Series. Last season, she batted .337 with 30 runs scored and 13 RBI, collecting nine doubles, three triples and a home run.
Scott also competed with the West Torrens softball club and was on the South Australian state team.
Lexi Shelby | P | 5-5 | Pace, Fla.
Competing in softball, weightlifting and cheerleading, Shelby is entering her senior campaign at Pace High School. An injury-shortened junior campaign saw her collect a 0.40 earned run average across 17 innings with 29 strikeouts. As a freshman pre-COVID, she threw 63 innings with 61 strikeouts, compiling a 3.54 ERA. She helped lead her team to district and region titles.
Jordynn Shirley | 3B | 5-4 | Stockbridge, Ga.
A two-sport athlete in softball and tennis, Shirley has put together a strong career at Woodland High School, while also competing for the Atlanta Vipers Tamborra club team. During her senior campaign thus far, she has put together a .580 batting average and a .620 on-base percentage, while stealing 20 bases.
She was named the region Female Athlete of the Year in tennis, while also earning a first-team all-region nod as an infielder. She was also named the school's Most Valuable Player twice.
Brooklyn Stewart | C | 5-4 | Milford, Ohio
With two seasons under her belt at Milford High School, and a third soon to begin, Stewart has put together some incredible numbers so far. In her junior season, Stewart batted .560 with 13 doubles, three triples, three home runs and 28 RBI, while also stealing seven bases. Defensively, she threw out eight runners stealing out of 12 attempts and picked off five base runners.
She was named first-team All-ECC Conference, the ECC Athlete of the Week and was twice named to the Extra Innings Honorable Mention for national high school athlete of the week. She competed with Tennessee Mojo on the club level.
