The College of Central Florida Softball team kicks off their 2024 season on Friday at the JUCO Kickoff Classic in Clearwater. Head Coach Mike Lingle leads the way in his 4th season at the helm. Assistant coaches Megan Garst and Tyson Wyman are both back for their second season on staff. The Lady Pats will open up with a double header on Friday, January 26th, playing Parkland College at 10 AM and Gulf Coast State College at 12:30 PM. On Saturday they play another double header with games against Northwest Florida State at 11:30 AM and USC Union at 4:30 PM.
The Patriots return a handful of key players from last year's 46-13 Conference Championship Team. Mid-Florida Conference pitcher of the year, Haley Guffey, is back for her sophomore year. Guffey led CF in innings last season and struck out 190 batters. Pitchers Ashley Martinec and Emma Wyman also return. Both girls threw over 50 innings last season and will be in the mix in the circle again this year.
On the offensive side, the Patriots return Megan Loftis, Hailey Scott, Madi Wicihowski, Emma Rogel and Avery Lawson. Both Hailey Scott and Megan Loftis were First-Team All Conference players last season. Scott hit .395 with 10 doubles and 2 home runs while Loftis hit .472 and stole 47 bases.
Last year the Patriots won the last Mid-Florida Conference Championship, as this year they will compete in the new 12-team Citrus Conference consisting of the following teams:
Daytona State College
Eastern Florida State College
Florida Southwestern State College
Hillsborough Community College
Indian River State College
Miami Dade College
Polk State College
Santa Fe College
Seminole State College of Florida
St. Petersburg College
State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota
All teams will all play a home and away double header with each other, creating a 44-game conference schedule. The top 5 teams in the Citrus Conference will automatically advance to the postseason. The 6th team will match up with a team from the panhandle conference for the final spot in the postseason.
Season Information:
For Live Game Stats please follow on the GameChanger App
All home games will be broadcast with live video on our CF Youtube page here: youtube.com/user/CollegeofCentralFL/live
2024 Roster
JUCO Kickoff Classic Information - fastpitchheadquarters.com/tournaments/24jucoko.htm