Hailey Unger, a standout catcher from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, will join the Tiger softball team for the 2013 season.
MITCHELL, S.D. – In the sport of softball, having a standout catcher can often make or break a team. Since the Dakota Wesleyan University softball team’s catcher graduates in May, head coach Ed Kieff knew finding a new great catcher was at the top of his list.
This week, Kieff announced that he had not only signed a catcher to join the Tigers for the 2013 season, but that she is only of the top players at her position in Canada.
Hailey Unger, a highly recruited catcher from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, will be behind the plate for Dakota Wesleyan starting in 2013. The Oak Park High School student plays for Smitty’s Terminators, one of the best club softball programs in Canada known for producing talented players.
Unger led the league in home runs this past summer, and helped her team to the provincial championship. In nine games at the U19 Women’s Fast Pitch Canadian Championships this past August, Unger – who plans to major in early childhood education – recorded 10 hits and nine RBIs. This summer, Unger will play for the Smitty’s Senior team, which features some of the best softball players from Winnipeg and throughout Canada.
Unger, a 5-foot-9 catcher, also played volleyball for three years in high school. She was also a member of the honor roll.
“One of our obvious goals for recruiting next year was to find a catcher, as our only catcher now is a senior,” Kieff said. “In this game, a great catcher can make a huge difference, and that is exactly what we have here in Hailey. She was a highly recruited player – with good reason – and we are fortunate to have signed her.
“Smitty’s Terminators play at a very high level and do extensive traveling each summer. We are very excited about Hailey joining this year’s recruiting class, which is shaping up to be more than what we could have hoped for when we started last summer.”
Unger is the sixth member of the Tigers’ 2013 recruiting class. She joins Meghan Bovee (OF, San Diego, Calif.); Laura Erickson (INF/OF, Sioux Falls, S.D.); Cassie Fink (SS/UTL, Norfolk, Neb.); Brianna Onstad (P, Sacramento, Calif.) and Lindy Snook (UTL, Temecula, Calif). DWU starts the 2012 softball season Friday, Feb. 3, at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, S.D.
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