Oct. 24, 2012
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa softball team has established dates for a hitting and catching clinic. The hitting clinic will be held Tuesday, Oct. 30, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the UI’s Pearl Field. The catching clinic will be held on the same date from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex.
Both camps are limited to 10 campers, and each costs $50. Registration will be handled in the order in which it is received. Those interested can register and find more information on the Iowa softball camps page or by clicking the CAMPS link above.
The hitting clinic will cover swing mechanics and fundamentals, as well as hitting approach and mentality. It will be conducted by former Iowa softball athletes and current assistant coaches, Stacy May-Johnson and Chelsey Carmody. The catching clinic will be conducted by Iowa assistant coach Adrianna Baggetta. It will cover the fundamentals of catching, including receiving, blocking, framing and steals.
Baggetta is in her third year as an assistant coach at Iowa, serving as the defensive coach. Baggetta was associate head coach at South Carolina before joining the Iowa staff, and a member of the South Carolina softball team from 1998-02. She helped lead the Gamecocks to an SEC conference tournament championship in 2000, four-straight NCAA Regional appearances and three SEC Eastern Division titles. She was named All-SEC in 2002 and was also chosen for the 2002 All-SEC tournament team.
Carmody is a former shortstop and all-conference selection for Iowa. She is in her first season as Iowa’s volunteer assistant coach.
May-Johnson was a four-year letterwinner at Iowa from 2003-06 and enjoyed a successful professional career as a member of the Chicago Bandits in the National Professional Fastpitch (NPF) league from 2006-10. May-Johnson was a three-time NFCA All-Mideast Region selection as a Hawkeye and a three-time All-Big Ten pick. May-Johnson’s name still appears in 11 different offensive school records lists at Iowa. She finished her career with a .338 batting average, 23 home runs and 109 RBI.
May-Johnson was Chicago’s first overall pick (fourth pick, second round) in the 2006 NPF Draft. She retired after a five-year career as one of the most decorated players in NPF history. She was named NPF Rookie of the Year in 2006 and NPF League MVP in 2008 and 2010. She was a three-time NPF All-Star (2006, 2008 and 2010) and helped lead the Bandits to the 2008 NPF team championship. The Bandits retired May-Johnson’s number in 2010 after she announced her retirement from professional softball. She returned for the playoff run in 2011, helping Chicago to a second NPF crown
May-Johnson competed for the USA Softball Women’s National Team in both 2011 and 2012. She was selected as the 2011 USA Softball Female Athlete of the Year after leading the Red, White and Blue to gold medals at the World Cup of Softball VII and the 2011 Pan American Games.