ULM Warhawks

MONROE, La. - The ULM softball team continues to build upon its strong recruiting class for the 2012 season with four junior college transfers that include three NJCAA All-Americans. Head coach Rosemary Holloway-Hill announced Wednesday the additions of Haley McCall, Karli Wainwright, Samantha Hamby and Taylor Bailey to the Warhawk roster next season.

McCall and Wainwright come to ULM as teammates from the 2011 NJCAA Division II National Championship winning team LSU-Eunice, each a key player in the Bengals' success this past season. McCall, who plays utility, was second in batting average with .413 and led nearly every offensive category including runs (61), hits (78), and RBI (68) while ranking second in home runs (8).

A native of Grand Chenier, La., McCall went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs in the NJCAA Division II National Championship game to be named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Her success during the season also garnered her an NJCAA Division II First Team All-American selection.

Outfielder Wainwright also played a crucial element in LSU-Eunice's success as she provided depth at the plate batting .369 on average and ranked first in walks (20), second in hits (73) and third in total bases (81). During the 2010 season, she was second in runs scored (60), third in triples (6) and fourth in hits (83).  The Garden City, Kan., native earned first team all-region and all-conference honors in 2011.

Hamby is a local product of West Ouachita High School and will return to her native Monroe, La., to play for ULM after spending two seasons at Central Alabama CC located in Alexander City, Ala. She ranked 18^th in the nation this season as a pitcher, going 21-2 overall with a 1.22 ERA and 184 strikeouts to help the Trojans become the 2011 Alabama Community College Conference Champions. They finished seventh at the national tournament.

Hamby was the only Central Alabama CC player to be recognized nationally and earned a spot on the NJCAA Division I All-American Second Team. She also received multiple accolades from the ACCC as a first-team all-region, all-league and all-tournament team selection in both 2010 and 2011. In her two seasons with the Trojans, Hamby held down a 1.26 ERA while compiling an impressive 41-6 record with 391 strikeouts.

Bailey will be the third pitcher to join a stacked Warhawk pitching staff after two years with the two-time defending Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges State Champion East Central CC in Decatur, Miss. The 13^th-ranked pitcher in NJCAA Division II in 2011, she had a nation-best 32 wins to 10 losses as she threw 197 strikeouts in 286.2 innings of action, the most in NJCAA Division II this year. She finished with a 1.34 ERA.

The Austin, Texas, product picked up a slew of honors this season, including a NJCAA Division II First Team All-American selection. For two years straight, Bailey was also named to the NJCAA Division II Softball All-Tournament Team, the All-Region 23 Team and the MACJC All-State Team. She also picked up Most Valuable Pitcher in 2011.

McCall, Wainwright, Hamby and Bailey join four incoming freshman signees to now bring the class of 2012 to eight players: Kayla Boening of San Antonio, Texas, Mackenzie Miller of Evergreen , Colo., Alexis Cacioppo of La Habra, Calif., and Haylie Wilson of Middleburg, Fla.