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SALUQI CORNER: Saluqi sports heats up for fall semester

By Keith Gentry 

Saluqi Corner

October is the halfway point of the fall semester for students-athletes at Southwest, and that means midterms, flex classes beginning and only a month and a half to go until finals. It’s also the time of the year when all five Southwest athletic teams are either on the field or in the gym. The women’s soccer team is coming to the end of its season, the baseball and softball teams are also nearing the end of the fall seasons, and the men’s and women’s basketball teams are practicing for their upcoming season which gets underway in early November. Below are highlights of how our Saluqi sports teams are heating up!

WOMEN’S SOCCER
Shawn Loth was named as the head coach over the summer but he was certainly no stranger to the program after serving as the Lady Saluqis’ interim coach for the past two seasons (spring 2021, fall 2021). The Southwest women’s soccer team endured a difficult season this fall with numerous injuries and also a couple of defections. The team enters the TCCAA tournament as the number four seed and will play top-seed Motlow State Community College in the semifinals. 

Top players this season have been sophomore forward Theona Whitmore, an All-TCCAA performer as a freshman who leads the team in goals, shots, and shots on goal. Sophomore midfielder Evelyn Ozment is second on the team in goals while sophomore Jayla Perkins ranks second in shots and shots on goal. Other starters are sophomores Lauren Hebert, Jannah Greever, Arlee McCaughey, and Kaylan Vatter and freshmen Aubrey McElyea (goalkeeper), Joselyn Alfaro, Rainey Tiner and Juli Gross. Sophomore Emily Harper has been injured for much of the season and played in six games including four starts.

SOFTBALL
The Southwest softball team has had a very productive fall season while playing possibly the toughest fall schedule in the program’s history with wins over Christian Brothers University, Rhodes College, Freed Hardeman University JV (twice), Arkansas State University and Northwest-Shoals Community College. The Lady Saluqis also had a big lead over Coahoma Community College when the game was called after three innings due to a storm. The team played well in close losses to Bethel University, Snead State Community College (a NJCAA national tournament participant last year), and University of Arkansas-Rich Mountain. In addition, the Lady Saluqis played the University of Memphis for the first time since 2019, competing very well in that game and holding a lead going into the fifth inning.

The fall season was even more impressive considering the team has only two returning players – pitcher/shortstop Laura Kirkpatrick and first baseman/outfielder Shelbe Sisk. Joining these two sophomores are a very impressive group of 12 freshman. They are pitcher/second baseman Jenifer Diehl (Big Rock, TN/Stewart County High School), centerfielder Maddyx McNatt (Tishomingo, MS/Tishomingo County High School), pitcher/outfielder Maleyia Prather (Ripley, TN/Ripley High School), catcher Sarah Eaton (Red Bay, AL/Red Bay High School), pitcher Cailey Robbins (Cordova, TN/Houston High School), second baseman/shortstop Lauren Pettie (Fayetteville, TN/Fayetteville High School), outfielder Addie Middleton (Somerville, TN/Fayette Academy), third baseman Mary Faith McCluskey (Murfreesboro, TN/Blackman High School), first baseman Mandie Barrow (Lavergne, TN/Middle Tennessee Christian School), outfielder Mariah Morgan (Ripley, TN/Ripley High School, third baseman Kenner Scott (Phil Campbell, AL/Phil Campbell High School and catcher Ashley Aldridge (Jasper, AL/Lynn High School). 

There are a couple of new things for the Southwest softball program this fall. First is the addition of former Lady Saluqi pitcher Maegan Wilson as an assistant coach. Wilson played at Southwest during the 2008 and 2009 seasons before moving on to play at Mid-Continent University in Kentucky. She joins Head Coach Keith Gentry and Assistant Coach Corey Miller on the staff. Secondly, the Southwest softball team will play its home games at the Gameday Baseball Complex in Cordova. Due to excessive rain last spring, the Lady Saluqis played the majority of their home games at Gameday (which has artificial turf infields) and this year it was made official, becoming the fifth ‘home field’ in the history of the program. As the only school in the conference without their own field/facility, the Southwest softball team has played its home games over the years at Cordova High School, Appling Park, Buckhead Creek Recreation Complex, St. Benedict at Auburndale School as well as moving games from time to time to high school or area college fields.

BASEBALL
Head Coach Erik Schoenrock’s Saluqi baseball team has enjoyed an outstanding fall season against a very competitive schedule. The 2022 fall slate was highlighted by games at Christian Brothers University, University of Tennessee-Martin, the PBR Puma Classic in Westfield, Indiana, the TCCAA Showcase at David Lipscomb University in Nashville, the Hoover Met Classic in Hoover, Alabama and also games at John A. Logan College in Carterville, Illinois, at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and at East Central Community College in Decatur, Mississippi. In addition, the Southwest baseball team hosted Bethel University JV, the Ontario Blue Jays, Chattanooga Post Grad and the Fall JUCO Showcase at the Saluqis’ home field, USA Stadium in Millington.

Returning off last year’s squad are infielders Tuane Cope, Blake Rowe, outfielders Dawson Simmons, C.J. Thomas, Anthony Zarlingo, outfielder/catcher Avery Robertson, outfielder/pitcher RH Frankland, and pitchers Colton Brumley, Jacob Dodson, Dawson Hargrove, Brady Holloway, Monte Meyers and Christian Robb. Sophomore transfers on the 34-man fall roster include infielder Wesley Culley (Freed Hardeman University), Tyler Harrington (University of Memphis), Jake McCalla (Volunteer State Community College), Matt Riley (Trevecca Nazarene University) and Tyler Wolaver (Columbia State Community College).

MEN’S BASKETBALL
The Southwest men’s basketball team, under the direction of second-year Head Coach Jarrett Stephens, opens the 2022-2023 season on November 2 at Central Georgia Technical College in Macon, Georgia. The first home game will be on Saturday, November 12 when Southwest takes on Cleveland State Community College in TCCAA play.

The Saluqis return six sophomores – guards Will Farris, Kamrin Jones, and Decoreio Smith, and forwards David Mbaye, Mason Matthews and Marcotis Hall. Matthews averaged 5.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per game and started 21 games last season which was the most of the returnees. Marcotis Hall started 14 games and averaged 5.8 points and 3.4 rebounds while all three returning guards saw plenty of playing time primarily off the bench. Decoreio Smith played 11 games the second semester and averaged 6.9 points per game. Farris started six games, averaged 7.4 points per game, and was third on the team with 2.3 assists per game, and his Bartlett High School teammate Kamrin Jones was the Saluqis’ fourth leading scorer at 10.2 points per game and was also one of the team’s top three point shooters.

Newcomers to the team are freshmen guards Jaden Taylor (Memphis, TN/Overton High School), Cam Donegan (Memphis, TN/Tipton-Rosemark Academy/Memphis Day Academy), Gabriel Kincy (Broward County, FL/West Oak Academy), Chauncey Holmes (Memphis, TN/Kingsbury High School), Nickolas Woodard (Oglethorpe, GA/Taylor County High School), Kendal Lewis (Olive Branch, MS/DeSoto Central High School) and Harrison Kelly (Memphis, TN/Christian Brothers High School). Red-shirt freshman guard/forward Ryan Parks (Somerville, TN/Fayette Academy) rounds out the 14-man squad.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Veteran Head Coach Andrea Martre returns just two players off last year’s team – sophomore guard Trinity Taylor and sophomore forward Cailynn Knox. Taylor was the team’s leading scorer in 2021-22 with a 16.3 average. All-TCCAA performer last season, Taylor was also among the Lady Saluqis’ team leaders with 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game, 35 three-point goals, and a 76.3 free throw percentage. Knox started every game last season, averaged 6.4 points per game and led the team both in rebounding with 8.4 boards per game and in blocked shots with 3.4 per game.

Nine newcomers join these two returnees. Kailyn Anderson, a sophomore guard/forward, is a graduate of Memphis Academy of Health Sciences who transferred to Southwest from Spoon River College in Canton, Illinois. Six incoming freshmen include Ania Taylor (Horn Lake, MS/North Panola High School), guard JaNia Wright (Memphis, TN/Melrose High School), point guard/wing Ashia Thomas (Memphis, TN/Craigmont High school), guard/forwards ShaNiah Williams (Covington, TN/Covington High School), CorTayza Flowers (Covington, TN/Covington High School) and forward Jernesha Clark (West Memphis, AR/West Memphis Christian School).

The Lady Saluqis’ basketball team opens the 2022-2023 season at home on Wednesday, November 2 against National Park College. Their first home conference game is on Saturday, November 12 against Cleveland State Community College.

For more information about Southwest’s athletics programs, contact Chief Information Officer Keith Gentry.