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USU Softball Signs Four
June 19, 2007 LOGAN, Utah - Utah State softball head coach Candi Letts announced that four players have signed to play for the Aggies next season. Joining USU in the fall will be Kayla Dunn, Kelley Kaneshiro, Tylee Landon and Kelly Yates. "This is a real athletic bunch of players, who is just going to get better and better each year they are in our program, helping us improve as a team," Letts said. "As their athleticism grows, so will their experience and they will contribute to our continued team success." These four signings now bring Letts' first signing class to a total of seven, after three others: Jessica Law, Megan McDonald, and Shasta Tyteca signed in December. Dunn, a 5-7 pitcher/utility player from Carson City, Nevada (Douglas HS), who is transferring to USU after two seasons at Feather River College in Quincy, Calif., and originally signed with Georgia Tech out of high school. She was the 2006 Golden Valley Conference Rookie of the Year and this past season had a 7-12 record and a 2.06 ERA while logging 129 strikeouts in her two seasons at Feather River. Dunn hit .393 in her Feather River career with 15 HR's and 52 RBI, leading the team this past season at the plate with a .379 average with nine HR's and 21 RBI. Last season she hit .403 with six HR's and 31 RBI. "Kayla brings experience to the plate and the mound," Letts said. "She is a program maker in that she will make her teammates better." Kaneshiro is a 5-5 utility player from Auburn, Wash., (Auburn Riverside HS), was the South Puget Sound League 3A Player of the Year. She posted a .551 batting average with an on-base percentage of .696 and an .873 slugging percentage, and scored 30 runs. "Kelley is a competitor who loves to be at the plate in clutch situations," Letts said. "She is very aggressive and adds a great deal of depth and talent to our program." Landon and Yates were teammates at Idaho Falls' Skyline HS, where they helped the Grizzlies to a 15-3 record. Landon is 5-8 pitcher, who had a 1.40 ERA her senior season with 183 strikeouts, after recording a 1.04 ERA with 135 K's as a junior. At the plate, she hit .387 with 20 RBI as a senior after hitting .466 her junior year. "Tylee is one of those kids who wants to have the ball on the mound. She competes to the fullest degree and puts it all on the line every pitch," Letts said. A 5-6 infielder, Yates hit .494 with a .740 on-base percentage, as well as logging 16 RBI and scored 38 runs. "Kelly is a real athletic player, who will get better and better. She doesn't have the experience at the college level yet, but when she does, she will be a great player for our program and in this conference," Letts said. "She is a team player who gives it her all for her team." Utah State concluded this past season with a 17-36 record, as the Aggies made their Western Athletic Conference Tournament debut in the USU's second season in the league and its first conference tournament appearance since 1990. USU lost six seniors, who were part of a large turnaround for Utah State's softball program. In their first year under head coach Candi Letts, the Aggies were 17-36, doubling last season's win total (8-38) and the second best winning percentage in the 2000's behind 2005's .442 (23-29). USU also established a new school record with 33 home runs, topping the previous record of 32 round-trippers by the 2005 team. The Aggies also led the WAC with 62 stolen bases, the most for a USU squad since 1991 when the Aggies swiped 66, and five behind the school record of 67 stolen bases in the 1981 national championship season. The pitching staff logged 235 strikeouts, the most since the 2002 pitchers fired 255 K's.
Utah State Softball 2007 Signing Class
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