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People SearchFind an individual who either played a sport or was a member of a support group. Search by last name by clicking on the first letter of the person's last name.
Mrs. Brooke Garrity , née Mitchell
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Home Phone: -- June, 2016 A Heart as big as Texas By Bruce Brown Special to Athletic Network A dozen years ago, Brooke Garrity was among the best pitchers in college softball. She was Brooke Mitchell back then, and she wasn’t the tallest or most imposing hurler in the game, but she perfected her craft with unmatched focus. And she had a heart the size of her native Texas. By the time she left UL with a finance degree, Garrity was an NFCA All-American, a two-time Academic All-America choice and a three-time Pitcher of the Year in the Sun Belt Conference. She won 119 games, worked 908 2/3 innings and struck out 1,309 batters in four sterling years as the face of the program from 2002-2005. “It was a great opportunity for me to go there,†Garrity said. “I hadn’t pitched too well in front of college coaches, and we knew the Lotiefs (coaches Michael and Stefni) before they became coaches at UL. “That’s what God wanted for me, and it worked out that way.†The Cajuns were 208-42 in that time, and in 2003 followed their star pitcher back to the Women’s College World Series after a 7-year absence. “It was the old format,†Garrity said. “If you won the regional, you went to the World Series. We were playing in Fullerton (Calif.) and were in the winner’s bracket until the last game. “That’s when the drama started. I hurt my arm warming up (against Oregon). We lost (9-2) then won (6-4) to reach the World Series.†Currently, teams must win both regional and super regional competition to advance, with this year’s Cajuns facing Oklahoma for a WCWS bid. UL’s 2003 squad reached the pinnacle, then lost 3-2 to Texas and 5-1 to UCLA to finish 47-11 – ironically, the lowest team win total in Garrity’s four years. “Our mentality was always that the World Series was our goal,†Garrity said. “We wanted to win it all. We didn’t (just) want to beat the next team we played; we wanted to beat No. 1. “Playing in the World Series met my expectations. It was a great experience, and I was thankful to be there, although our goal was to win it all and we didn’t do that. I had visited Hall of Fame Stadium as a kid, and it was a childhood dream to play there.†Such lofty success doesn’t come easily. UL was 50-13 in 2002, but lost in regional play. The 2004 Cajuns were 60-8 behind a season for the ages by Garrity, yet fell to Oklahoma in a regional showdown. And the 2005 squad was eliminated by Oregon, finishing 50-11. Garrity put up some staggering numbers in 2004 – a 45-5 record, 0.82 earned run average, 524 strikeouts in 315 2/3 innings of work, 5 no-hitters and 14 shutouts – to earn All-America status. “Was I tired? Yes, and no,†Garrity said. “It was definitely worth it.†With a chance to return to the WCWS, UL traveled to No. 1 Arizona for regional play. The Cajuns lost to Arizona 4-0, but fought back with wins over Temple (8-1) and Northwestern (3-0), then stunned Arizona 5-0. They needed to beat Oklahoma twice, and defeated the Sooners 12-4, but ran out of gas as OU won 15-0 to advance. “We were heartbroken,†said Garrity, who thrived with a season on the line. “I remember games and situations at the end of a season,†she said. “I look back and think, ‘Did I really do all that?’ †No easy path The journey began in Texas, where Dennis Mitchell taught the fundamentals of the game to his daughter Brooke, who also played basketball and volleyball until she reached high school. “Pitching did not really come naturally to me, but from the time I was young I enjoyed it and wanted it,†Garrity said. “It did not come easy. “When I came out of high school, I was not ready to pitch in college. There was a lot of fine tuning. I looked at a lot of videos, learned how to get smarter with pitch calls and I learned how to throw a good change-up. That was big. “Between the lines, it’s a different game. You keep that poker face. Our mentality was, nobody could top us. I wanted three outs, and it didn’t matter if it was a strikeout, a pop-up or ground ball.†Garrity’s closest ally in that process was catcher Joy Webre, her battery mate all four years at UL. “Joy was great,†Garrity said. “She called all my pitches, and I can only recall two or three times when I shook her off in four years. She was a hitter, and she always tried to fake the hitter out. She’d figure out what they wanted and we’d give them something else. “Four years playing with her. She made a huge difference for me.†That bond was typical of the chemistry found on the UL squad. “You do everything together – live in the dorm, eat together – and you don’t get that with (youth) tournament ball,†Garrity said. Scary moment The entire Cajun program was rocked when Garrity was struck in the head and felled by a wicked line drive off the bat of a Florida International hitter in a home series at Lamson Park. “It wasn’t scary for me, because I didn’t know how bad it was,†said Garrity. “I remember asking, ‘Can I still pitch?’ and Coach Mike just smiling. It was my own fault. It was a pitch I missed. It was supposed to be a curve. It was a curve outside, but it wasn’t outside enough. I probably missed two weeks. It was swollen pretty bad. “In that same game, Tiffany Hebert got sliced open (by a sliding FIU base runner). I remember it was Florida International.†Obviously, most of Garrity’s memories of her college years are much more enjoyable. The 2010 UL Athletic Hall of Fame inductee even met husband Tim while they were students. Now married 11 years, the couple has two daughters – Abby, 4, and Hailey, 9 months – and recently moved to Baton Rouge where Tim is a security consultant in the computer industry. Brooke stays home with the girls, for now, and keeps up with former teammates as well as the current UL program. “I’m sure I’ll eventually go back to work, but they are the future generation and it’s important to be with them now,†Garrity said. “Playing at UL, I learned that if you want something enough, you can do it.†Brooke Garrity Highlights Career 119-27 W-L; 1.09 ERA; 1,309 K; 81.5 Win Pct.; 908 2/3 IP; 10 No Hitters Season 2004 – 45-5 W-L; 0.82 ERA; 524 K; 315 2/3 IP; 5 No Hitters; 14 Shutouts Game 2004 vs. Nevada – 22 K in 9 innings. Also Degree in Finance; 2010 Inductee in UL Sports Hall of Fame * * * * * * * * October 20, 2010 RaginCajuns.com Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns softball team returns to Lamson Park on Friday as they host Trinity Valley at 3:00 p.m. Fans coming to Friday’s game need to be aware of some special parking instructions that can be found at the link above. Fans will also have an opportunity to see UL honor a former All-American on Friday afternoon. Brooke Mitchell Garrity is being inducted into the UL Athletics Hall of Fame this weekend as part of the Cajuns’ Homecoming festivities and will be recognized during Friday’s contest. Mithcell was a pitcher for the Cajuns from 2002-05 and had arguably the best season ever by a Cajuns hurler in 2004. Mitchell was named First Team NFCA All-American as well as CoSIDA Academic All-American in that season. She was also Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year and Most Outstanding Player while picking up Louisiana Pitcher of the Year honors. Mitchell went 45-5 in 2004, becoming just the 12th player in NCAA history to win at least 40 games. She posted a 0.82 ERA including a school and Sun Belt record 524 strikeouts. She threw five no-hitters and posted a complete-game shutout to eliminate No.1 Arizona in NCAA Regionals. Overall in her career, Mithcell was a four-time All-Sun Belt selection and three times an NFCA All-Region performer. She was also named CoSIDA Academic All-American on two different occasions. She is also the only player in Sun Belt history to win three Pitcher of the Year awards. She finished her career with a 119-27 record while posting a 1.09 ERA and 1,309 strikeouts. Mitchell earned her bachelor’s degree in finance from UL in 2005. After Friday afternoon’s game, the Cajuns will return to Lamson Park for their final fall game on Wednesday, October 27 as they host LSU-Eunice. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m. and the game will mark the Cajuns breast cancer awareness night. — Ragin’ Cajuns — * * * * * * * * * * Softball: BROOKE MITCHELL SELECTED FOR FIRST-TEAM ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA HONOR June 03, 2005 – Matt Hebert, Sports Information – Senior pitcher earned her bachelor’s degree in finance on May 14 and LAFAYETTE – Senior righthanded pitcher Brooke Mitchell of The Academic All-America program is presented by the College Sports Mitchell is the program’s 15th Academic All-American selection and Mitchell joins former Ragin’ Cajuns Joni Podhorez, Stephanie DeFeo, Lynn Mitchell, who received her bachelor’s degree in business finance on May Mitchell finished off her career in style in 2005 by collecting the The 2005 Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year, she leaves A Top 40 finalist for the 2005 USA Softball Player of the Year and Her achievements are not limited to the field. She has been a fixture on Created in 1952 by CoSIDA, the Academic All-America Teams program is the 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-AmericaR Softball Team (University First Team Second Team Third Team ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAR OF THE YEAR: Megan Meyer, Seton Hall Softball: MITCHELL AND ROBERTSON NAMED ESPN THE MAGAZINE ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT May 24, 2005 – Matt Hebert, Sports Information – Brooke Mitchell garnered first-team honors for the second straight LAFAYETTE – In 2004 Brooke Mitchell became the University of Louisiana Mitchell was named to the 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Louisiana-Lafayette has had 14 Academic All-Americans since 1990. The Joining Mitchell on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI team Mitchell, who received her bachelor’s degree in business finance on May Mitchell finished off her career in style in 2005 by collecting the She leaves Louisiana-Lafayette as a member of the Top 10 in NCAA A Top 40 finalist for the 2005 USA Softball Player of the Year and Robertson, a Lafayette native, also completed her bachelor’s degree Robertson enjoyed a career season in 2005 leading the Ragin’ Cajuns in Robertson dominated in Sun Belt Conference play, leading the league with A student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with legitimate CoSIDA selects Academic All-America teams in 12 programs: football, 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI University Division FIRST TEAM SECOND TEAM Softball: MITCHELL AND GOMEZ TOP HONOREES AT SUN BELT AWARDS BANQUET May 11, 2005 – Matt Hebert, Sports Information – No. 13 Louisiana-Lafayette places a league-high 10 on the All-Sun Belt BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The 13th-ranked Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns softball The Ragin’ Cajuns placed a league-high six players on the All-Sun Belt Mitchell, who led the league in victories (26), strikeouts (330) and ERA Mitchell accounted for 26 of the Ragin’ Cajuns 47 victories this season. Danyele Gomez joined Mitchell as one of the Sun Belt’s top honorees as Both Mitchell and Gomez highlighted the Ragin’ Cajuns first team Three Louisiana-Lafayette infielders were members of the second team – Head coach Stefni Lotief was named the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Louisiana-Lafayette was also presented with the regular season Webre started every game at catcher for Louisiana-Lafayette (55 straight Bertucci hit a personal-best 14 home runs this season and had 11 home Robertson leads the Sun Belt Conference in batting average with a .389 Evans started slow as lingering back troubles kept her average down Bobbitt, in her first full season as a member of the Ragin’ Cajuns Bryant carried a .300-plus batting average throughout the entire 2005 Hebert made the switch from shortstop to third base at the beginning of Runyan entered the starting lineup as a true freshman on March 29 and The Ragin’ Cajuns will begin defense of their five straight SBC 2005 ALL-SUN BELT CONFERENCE SOFTBALL TEAM FIRST TEAM 2nd Team PLAYER OF THE YEAR:: Danyele Gomez, Louisiana-Lafayette Softball: UL softball records 1,000th win in sweep April 21, 2005 – Bruce Brown Wednesday was a grand day in Monroe, as Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns swept the UL Monroe Indians 6-2 and 9-0 for the 1,000th and 1,001st victories in school history. Now 1,001-299 all-time, Louisiana joined Arizona, UCLA, California, Cal State Fullerton, South Carolina, Arizona State and Michigan as programs in NCAA Division I that have reached 1,000 wins. Coach Stefni Lotief’s squad, ranked 14th in the nation, also ran its season winning streak to 12 in a row with the victories. Senior All-American Brooke Mitchell improved to 22-6 this season with a win in the first game. She struck out 10 and now has 1,243 for her UL career to pass Texas A&M’s Shawn Andaya (1,234) for the No. 10 spot on the NCAA’s all-time career list. It took five runs in the final three innings to assure victory in the opener. UL also got busy late in the nightcap with eight runs in the last three innings to back Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week Heather Bobbitt. The Cajuns had 10 extra base hits and a total of 19 for the evening, while ripping six doubles and belting four home runs. Louisiana (34-7) returns to action this weekend, hosting North Texas for the squad’s third Sun Belt series of the season. A third-inning error allowed ULM to tie the first game at 1-1, but the visitors regained the lead in the fifth when Sun Belt Player of the Week Jill Robertson lashed an RBI double to plate Codi Runyan. Brittany Bryant’s single then scored Robertson to make it 3-1. Three hits produced threee UL runs in the sixth, sparked by Crystal George’s leadoff home run and topped by Danyele Gomez’s two-run single. Robertson led off the nightcap with a double down the left field line. Danyele Gomez followed Robertson’s frozen rope with a double of her own deep into the left center field gap to score Robertson for the 1-0 lead. Bobbitt held ULM at bay until the offense hit high gear. She’s queen of the K’s Dan McDonald Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajun pitcher Brooke Mitchell joins select company by reaching 1,000 career strikeouts in Sunday’s 8-0 win over Sam Houston State. Maybe she makes it look too easy. It’s not. Brooke Mitchell and the University of Louisiana softball coaches know it. “People tend to discount what pitchers like Brooke can do,” said Ragin’ Cajun co-head coach Michael Lotief. “That comes at a price.” But when the Texan takes the circle for the Ragin’ Cajun squad, it’s hard not to have high expectations … big strikeout numbers and minuscule numbers for the opposition. On Sunday, it was pretty much business as usual for Mitchell and the Cajuns in the final game of the second Mardi Gras Classic. Mitchell fanned six Sam Houston State batters in four innings, allowed one hit and no baserunners past first base, and her team provided plenty of offensive support in an 8-0 victory that kept UL perfect in two years of Mardi Gras tournament play. The fact that the Cajuns (5-0) finished a sweep of five tournament games – only one of them close – was nearly overshadowed Sunday when the senior from Pasadena, Texas, struck out Bearkat catcher Erin Lindsey for the third out of the first inning. That slow curve that Lindsey was well in front of gave Mitchell 1,000 strikeouts in her All-American career, the 28th pitcher in NCAA Division I history to get to that mark. She entered the tournament needing 33 strikeouts to reach that pinnacle and came into Sunday’s finale only two short. “This was the first time she’s thrown three straight days since last season,” Lotief said. “She had to work through a lot of soreness. Every other pitcher here, when they pitched their second game they dropped off 50 percent. “It’s incredible that she can go out there with her ‘B’ or ‘C’ game and still compete at the highest level.” Mitchell (4-0) struck out four of the first seven batters she faced and was never in trouble, especially after her teammates put up a six-spot in the third inning off SHSU starter Melissa Collins (0-2). Collins also got off to an impressive start, fanning five of the first six Cajuns she faced. But three straight one-out singles by Tiffany Hebert, Jill Robertson and Danyele Gomez and walks to Joy Webre and Lacey Bertucci in the third inning provided a 2-0 lead. Moments later, Ashley Evans dropped a two-out single six inches inside the left-field line, and by the time Bearkat left fielder Stephanie Mosley ran down the ball Gomez and Webre scored. Tara Hamilton followed with a one-hop double to the left-field wall that scored two more for a 6-0 lead. From then on, the only question was whether the Cajuns could record their third run-rule victory of the tournament. That was answered with single runs in the fifth and sixth innings on RBI ground balls by Hamilton and Brittany Bryant. The closest the Bearkats (2-3) came to scratching a run across came in the bottom of the sixth when hits by Amber McAvoy, Lindsey and Megan Beard put two runners in scoring position. But UL reliever Ashley Kirchberg coaxed a pair of short fly balls to end the game one inning early and wrap up the first of three home tournaments to open the Cajuns’ season. “It’s good for this team to open at home,” said head coach Stefni Lotief. “These girls feed off these fans, and we’re lucky that with all the parades, the weather and the late nights they came out here for us.” Those Ragin’ Cajun Softball Park faithful watched their team collect 10 hits Sunday, wrapping up a tournament in which the hosts outscored their opponents 44-2. “We’ve got some early-season issues,” Michael Lotief said. “We had some bad at-bats and we walked a couple of leadoff hitters. But for the first time out, that’s not too bad.” LAGNIAPPE: To the surprise of absolutely no one, Mitchell was named the Most Outstanding Player in the tournament. She was joined on the All-Tournament Team by teammates Lacey Bertucci, Brittany Bryant, Danyele Gomez, Jill Robertson and Joy Webre, Ole Miss’ Lauren Rowe, DeDe Justice and Dana Brill, Stephanie Mosley and Shalayne Blythe of Sam Houston, Sarina Noack and Loni Rasberry of Northwestern State and Jana Jones of McNeese … UL won the tournament title for the second straight year with a 5-0 record. Northwestern was second at 4-1 including an 8-0 five-inning win over Prairie View A&M in Sunday’s second game, while Ole Miss finished third at 3-2 and took a 9-5 victory over McNeese in Sunday’s opener. Sam Houston finished at 2-3, McNeese at 1-4 and PVA&M at 0-5 … Mitchell finished the tournament 4-0 with 37 strikeouts in 21 innings, allowing seven hits and two unearned runs … Bertucci was the tournament’s leading hitter with a .643 average, with SHSU’s Mosley runner-up at .529 … UL returns to action Friday in the Ragin’ Cajun Invitational, a double round-robin with McNeese and Mississippi State. The Cajuns face McNeese Friday at 7 p.m. Originally published February 7, 2005 Softball: Amazing numbers for Brooke Mitchell February 04, 2005 – Bruce Brown Mitchell struck out 524 foes in leading the Cajuns to a school-record 60-8 record. Brooke Mitchell has a head for numbers, as you’d expect from a business finance major. By the time she finishes her softball career for Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns, though, even Mitchell will need extra help adding up all her records and numbers. The Pasadena, Texas, product enters today’s start of the 2005 season with a 91-20 career won-loss record and a staggering 967 strikeouts – 45 of those wins and 524 of those strikeouts coming last year when she led the Cajuns to a 60-8 finish. But she’s much more than the sum total of her accomplishments, impressive though they are. She’s on schedule to graduate on time this May. She’s engaged to marry college sweetheart Tim Garrity as soon as they can find jobs. And in many ways she’s still the quiet, deeply religious young woman who arrived at UL in 2002, the only daughter of Dennis and Cherry Mitchell. To Cajun fans, she remains the key to reaching the Women’s College World Series, the player in the spotlight. “It’s definitely weird to have the spotlight on you like that,” Mitchell said. “I try to surround myself with people who will make me humble. “Other people on this team can pitch, and it’s not just me out there. We’ve still got to score. We’ve got to have defense behind us. I can’t hit like the others can. “Responsibility goes with pitching, but it’s not just you. Once you’ve got your part done, then they do theirs.” No one in Cajun history has pitched like the 5-foot-7 Mitchell has. Not current UL coach Stefni Lotief, the school’s first All-American. Not Kyla Hall. Not Cheryl Longeway. The spotlight may not always be comfortable, but she’s earned it. “Sometimes I look back at my career, to keep myself motivated,” Mitchell said. “I strive to be better all the time. My goal is to go to the College World Series and win it all, not just get there.” Mitchell pitched the Cajuns to the WCWS in 2003, overcoming an injured arm, and they fell one game short in 2004. Returning with a roster that includes many veterans of that 2003 experience offers promise this spring. “We’re practicing like we’re world champions,” Mitchell said. “We believe we’re going to do it, instead of getting there and being so surprised. We were a little awestruck, I think, in 2003, saying ‘Oh my gosh, we did it!’ even though we deserved to be there. “It’s an experience, for sure.” Mitchell has gotten more and more dominating with each year of college competition, mirroring her own growth as a college student. “My freshman year was rough,” she said. “It was that whole transition of being away from home for the first time. I think it’s like that for everyone. It definitely did help me grow, though. It made me stronger.” Now, of course, she’s a seasoned veteran of tests, term papers and study halls, as well as someone who’s enjoying life. “I understand now how it all works out,” Mitchell said. “I’m not as scared. College is fun, very fun.” With the Cajun softball program, which has four pre-med majors on the roster as well as engineering students and those in other demanding majors, academics is an understood requirement. Stefni Lotief was an Academic All-American and co-head coach Michael Lotief has a law degree. “School is stressed,” Mitchell said. “It’s a big deal to go to class. Coach wants us to have the highest GPA of all the teams here. Study hall is definitely No. 1.” There’s still time to live, though. “I enjoy movies, the normal stuff,” Mitchell said. “We go bowling sometimes. I love comedies, or a good love story. I won’t watch scary movies. It’s hard to go to sleep after watching them.” Reading? “Mostly school books,” Mitchell said. “I don’t read that much for my own enjoyment.” How about computers? “My fiancee is mostly the one who’s interested in them,” Mitchell said. “That’s what he came to UL for. If I have questions, I’ll ask him.” Mitchell and Garrity met as UL students, and she admits the final year of college is “an exciting time.” It’s also exciting to step into the pitching circle each game and see fellow senior Joy Webre behind the plate. “It’s great for us to be starting together for four years,” Mitchell said. “It doesn’t happen that often. “She’s very smart. She thinks like the hitters. She knows what to expect, and we throw opposite.” It’s not often Mitchell shakes off Webre, so seamless is their working relationship. “We prepare for each team,” Mitchell said. “If we played them before, we check how we did against them before.” That relationship is one reason Mitchell always looks calm in the circle. “People have taught me that (demeanor),” Mitchell said. “I’ve been taught to throw hard every pitch, no matter what happened on the last one.” While Mitchell is calm now, it’s taken time. “Pitching got into me,” she said. “I started pitching when I was 7, and I loved it. I was doing circles in the grocery store, I was so excited. I always wanted to be good at it.” With Olympian Christa Williams as one of her early role models, Mitchell set her sights on excellence. Now she’s on the preseason list of the best players in the college game. “That’s weird, too,” Mitchell said. “It seems like not too long ago I was a little kid. But it’s really good, because it shows that all the hard work has paid off.” Most days, Mitchell is on the positive side of he ledger on the field. But her inner strength has been tested on more than one occasion. There was the arm injury in 2003, which made it hard for her to place her pitches once UL got to the WCWS. Then last April against visiting Florida International, Mitchell was struck above the eye by a line drive and dropped, bleeding and shaken to the infield. Teammates, Garrity, her parents, her grandmother and her husband and a stunned crowd were horrified by the sight of the usually sunshiny Mitchell on the ground. A season hung in the balance, to be sure, but more important was her well-being. Prayers were answered when stitches closed the wound and Mitchell was eventually able to return to action with unsettling memories of the line drive and resulting concussion. “The biggest thing was recovering mentally,” Mitchell said. “I don’t know when I really got past it. There are times when I still think about it. But I realize that it was a one-time thing.” In a very different sense, Mitchell is a one-time kind of player, the kind fans will miss when she’s gone. They will remember the highlights, but like most stellar athletes Mitchell recalls moments when she could have done better. “There are one or two games from every year when my eyes were kind of opened,” Mitchell said. “Games that told me I had to get it in gear.” When she does, that’s usually bad news for Cajun opponents. Originally published February 4, 2005 Junior pitcher becomes the 11th First-Team All-American selection in OKLAHOMA CITY – Louisiana-Lafayette junior pitcher Brooke Mitchell Mitchell was honored as a first-team All-America selection by Louisville Mitchell’s selection marks the sixth straight season that at least one She is the program’s 11th first-team selection and first since 2000 when “She is the most extraordinary story in college softball,” said “We always knew she had the talent to be an All-American and this year The selection was the 33rd in UL Lafayette softball history and since “There was never any question in my mind that she was a First-Team The two-time Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year and tournament’s She set the program records for single season and career strikeouts and She became the fourth player in NCAA history to record 500-plus Her 524 strikeouts rank as the fourth-most in a single season in the Mitchell had 29 double-digit strikeout games to her credit and struck The right-handed hurler tossed six no-hitters including one of Big She accounted for 45 of the Cajuns 60 victories (75 percent) and had a The eight-time Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week, Mitchell struck out six With her fifth strikeout of the second game of a doubleheader at The NFCA All-South Region First Team member, Mitchell erased plenty of LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICANS (since 1990) Cajuns’ Mitchell helps USA Schutt Elite to Canada Cup wins July 07, 2004 – July 7, 2004 SURREY, B.C. USA Schutt Elite plated three runs in the third and erupted for six more runs in the fourth on its way to a 10-0 triumph over the Bloomington Lady Hearts on Tuesday in the 2004 Canada Cup in Softball City. The game was shortened to five innings because of the mercy rule. A barrage of 14 hits, including a 4-for-4 performance by Caitlin Lowe and a 3-for-3 outing by Kristie Fox, was more than enough offense for left-hander Monica Abbott. Abbott went the distance with a two-hitter and eight strikeouts to improve to 3-0 at the 2004 Canada Cup. With contests remaining against New Zealand and Canada, USA Schutt Elite upped its record to 4-1 at the event. “I think we’re getting better,” coach Jay Miller said. “In the past when we have struggled it was because adjustments were not made. Although we were not able to score early in the game, we did a much better job of putting the hits together. Monica pitched very well and we came through with timely hits.” On Monday, USA Schutt Elite tallied a tournament-high 12 hits and rode the one-hit pitching of UL Lafayette All-American Brooke Mitchell and Abbott to a 6-0 blanking of the Buffalo Bison’s. Mitchell collected six strikeouts and surrendered one hit over three innings, while Abbott earned her second win of the event by fanning 10 of the 13 batters she faced over four frames. “When the pitching staff records 16 strikeouts, it makes things a lot easier for our defense,” Miller said. “Brooke and Monica were each dominating on the mound, a positive sign as the tournament moves along. “I was disappointed that we had not take advantage of an opportunity in the first inning to break the game open early. However, once we were able to put a few runs on the board, we kept chipping away. We are continuing to make strides of getting better each game.” After Mitchell struck out the side to begin the game, Vicki Galindo and Caitlin Lowe delivered consecutive singles off Christine Keleher. A fielder’s choice by Lisa Dodd forced Galindo at third before Caitlin Benyi and Jodie Legaspi each flew out to strand the runners. Kim Dodson scratched out a bunt to start the second for Buffalo and was later safe at second base when the relay from Liz Borawski’s bunt did not arrive in time. A sacrifice by Nikki Thompson gave the Bisons a pair of runners in scoring position before shortstop Dodd cut down Dodson at the plate with a perfect strike to catcher Sara Dean for the second out. Still with runners on the corners, Mitchell closed the door by retiring Brianne Hout on a ground ball. Powered by four straight hits in the bottom of the third, USA Schutt Elite was able to build a 3-0 lead. Galindo ripped a base-hit up the middle to begin the rally and promptly stole second base. Lowe slapped a single to give her club runners on first and third with none out and Dodd deposited a single into left to drive in Galindo. A double steal by Lowe and Dodd set the table for Benyi, who roped a two-run single and managed to take second on the relay throw. USA Schutt Elite put the game out of reach with three runs on three hits and a couple of Buffalo errors in the sixth. �The Lafayette Daily Advertiser BROOKE MITCHELL NAMED TO THE USA SCHUTT ELITE TEAM June 23, 2004 – The USA Schutt Elite team will compete July 3-11 at the Canada Cup in Mitchell joins former Cajuns All-American shortstop Alana Addison as the The Pasadena, Texas, native is the lone representative of a softball Looking to defend their 2003 Canada Cup title, the USA team will be led The six additional players to the 16 member roster include: Sara Dean (Valencia, CA), Auburn For a complete roster the 2004 USA Schutt Elite team log on to
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