LEONARDTOWN, Md. – The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) signed three new players to its women’s softball team. The three — Skylar Clark, Kaitlyn Culbert and Anna Klotz — are currently finishing out their senior year at local high schools and are set to start classes at CSM in fall 2018 and start with the Hawks for the spring 2019 season.
“All three women are very strong academically and will be great additions to CSM as well as to our softball program,” said Head Coach Jim Cleary.

Clark is a pitcher coming from Calvert High School. “Skylar is one of the top pitchers graduating from SMAC in 2018,” Cleary said. “We are excited to sign her and are expecting her to be a major part of our pitching staff for the spring 2019 season.”
Culbert is a center fielder coming from Northern High School. “Kaitlyn is a great center fielder with a lot of speed and exceptionally good reads on balls hit to the outfield,” Cleary said. “She is also a strong hitter with a lot of speed on the base paths. We are hoping she will anchor our outfield.”

Klotz plays first base and outfield at St. Mary’s Ryken High School. “Anna is a very good first baseman and outfielder with a strong bat and speed on the base paths. We are looking forward to her adding to our defensive and offensive capabilities,” Cleary said.

As the team plans for the future and waits for these new players, the Hawks also are expecting a strong season this spring. Five new players were added to the roster for this season: Alyssa Case, pitcher/infielder/outfielder (Bishop McNamara High School); Kailey Cannon, infielder (Huntingtown High School); Michaela Guy, catcher (St. Mary’s Ryken High School); Haylee McClanahan, catcher/infielder (Patuxent High School); and Lindsey Wood, pitcher/infielder (Leonardtown High School).
Cleary returns for his seventh season with the Hawks and his fifth season as head coach. Assistant coaches for the 2018 season are Bill Hitte, who has been with the CSM program for 15 years, Danielle Watt, who played her sophomore year at CSM and played her last two years at Bowie State, and Jerry Barron, who has coached both high school and travel softball for many years.

The Hawks finished the 2017 season 25-13, which was their best record in the last five years. Cleary believes the 2018 season is also looking good for the team. “We will have solid players in every position, plus players that will allow us to play through times when key players are injured,” he said.

To view a gallery of photos from the signing event, visit http://csmphoto.zenfolio.com/2018sprsoftballsign.

For more on women’s softball at CSM, visit http://athletics.csmd.edu/sports/sball/index.