Nov. 13, 2014
SAN DIEGO -
The San Diego State softball team has signed three athletes to National Letters of Intent, head coach Kathy Van Wyk announced today. The three - Reyna Jamison (San Diego/Mater Dei Catholic High), Julie McDonald (Carlsbad, Calif./Carlsbad High School) and Molly Sturdivant (Santa Ana, Calif./El Modena High School) - will join a program that has won three straight Mountain West titles and has advanced to seven consecutive NCAA tournaments.
Jamison, a local product out of Mater Dei Catholic High School in San Diego (Chula Vista), also played with the So Cal Breakers club team under coach Mike Imoto. Jamison, an infielder in high school, has batted .364 with 32 RBIs, 57 runs, 14 doubles, six triples and 19 stolen bases over his career so far (according to MaxPreps.com). She has also posted a career .462 on-base percentage and .493 slugging mark. As a junior in 2014, Jamison hit .423 (33-for-78) with 18 RBIs, 16 runs, seven doubles, three triples, a homer and six stolen bases, while owning a .505 on-base percentage and .628 slugging percentage.
Jamison earned first-team all-Mesa League honors last year and second-team all-CIF accolades while at MDCHS. Over her three-year career at Mater Dei, she has led the Crusaders to a 66-26 (.717) record (22-8 in 2012, 25-7 in 2013 and 19-11 in 2014).
McDonald, another local student-athlete out of Carlsbad High School, played her club ball with OC Batbusters under coach Bruce Richardson. McDonald, who was mainly used as a pitcher at CHS and also as a first baseman, was 4-4 with a 3.03 ERA over 64 2/3 innings last year as a junior (according to MaxPreps.com). She struck out 35, holding opponents to a .263 batting average.
McDonald has helped the Lancers to back-to-back first division championships (2013-14) at CIF's and a combined 43-14-1 (.750) record over the past two seasons. She also pitched for the OC Batbusters at the 2013 16U Premier national championship game and earlier with So Cal Athletics, where the top club team won four straight national championships. McDonald also plays soccer and basketball for Carlsbad High.
Sturdivant, meanwhile, plays her club ball with the So Cal Fillys under coach Pat Kelly and has starred at El Modena High School in Orange, Calif. Sturdivant, who has played third base and catcher, batted .475 (29-for-61) with five home runs, 27 RBIs, 20 runs and four doubles as a junior at EMHS last year (according to MaxPreps.com). As a freshman with Foothill HS in 2012, she hit .338 with eight homers, 23 RBIs, 12 runs and three doubles. Sturdivant, who also has played club ball with the Hurricanes, Case Batbusters and Firecrackers Snyder, led the Fillys with a .545 batting average last year at the national championships.
A scholar-athlete, Sturdivant has been named a second-team all-league selection three straight years (2012-14) and the team's offensive player of the year each of those seasons. A top-15 freshman to watch by OC Varsity in 2014, she helped each of her high school teams (FHS in 2012, EMHS in 2013-14) make the CIF playoffs.
The Aztecs finished with a 40-19 record in 2014 to advance to their seventh straight NCAA tournament, which is the third-longest streak among non-Power 5 Conference programs and the 20th-longest overall. SDSU's 40 victories were the fourth most in program history and most since winning a school-record 44 times in 2008. San Diego State also finished the 2014 campaign with seven school records, including batting average (.301), on-base percentage (.397), runs (301), hits (467), RBIs (270), walks (226) and times hit by pitch (30).
The Aztecs kick off their 2015 season against Purdue (twice), Idaho State, Texas A&M and UCLA at the SoCal Collegiate Classic from Feb. 6-8 in Fullerton, Calif., and Los Angeles.