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Augusta State Recruits 2

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By DAREK SHARP, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 1, 2007

PLANT CITY - The Augusta State University softball program does not venture outside of Georgia to recruit very often. Most of its players are from Georgia, a few others are from the Carolinas.

But Augusta State was forced to change its approach thanks to not one but two Durant Cougars.

Sara DeMuth and Kristen Jones will be playing for Augusta State after officially signing with the college last week.

"We don't want to overload with out-of-state players, for various reasons. But we are really excited to have both of these girls," Augusta State head coach Melissa Mullins said.

DeMuth and Jones caught Mullins' attention, ironically, neither while playing for Durant nor while in Georgia. The duo played for a club softball team, Florida Pride, along with three others from Durant - Erika Wetherington, Sarah Godheim and Brandi Regan - and competed at a June event in Lexington, S.C.

Strangely enough, Jones doesn't think she played well during the tournament.

"I was really nervous about the whole recruiting process and I played really, really bad," Jones said. The Dynamite Classic drew dozens of college coaches.

Mullins said DeMuth's talents were readily on display because she is a pitcher, but Jones' abilities in the outfield were more on the subtle side.

"I saw her not afraid to dive or slide. Those are not things you can teach, the aggressiveness and courage she showed," Mullins said. The coach noticed the players separately, not making the connection that they were from the same school until after checking the tournament's media guide.

Both Durant players visited the campus, in the picturesque town known for hosting the Masters golf tournament, in early September.

For DeMuth, her mind was made up then and there.

"It was just a lot of fun, the whole time. Everything about the place was right," she said.

Jones said Mullins played a "huge part" in her decision.

Augusta State plays at the Division II level and competes in the Peach Belt Conference. The Jaguars ended last season with a national ranking for the first time, thanks to their school-record 19 victories. For the first time, Augusta State made the NCAA tournament.

Of the 19 players on the Jaguars roster for the upcoming year, 14 are from Georgia and only one, junior Angii Verbelelen, is from Florida.

"We have something in Georgia called the HOPE Scholarship, which allows us to get a lot of money for those players. And we don't want to stray too far out of the area, because we want the parents to be able to come see the games and so forth," Mullins said.

Although no games in Florida are on the 2008 schedule for Augusta State, Mullins said she will certainly consider future games farther south.

Durant went 24-2 en route to a district title last season with DeMuth compiling a 15-1 record on the mound. She also batted .514 and hit five homers. Jones also hit better than .500.

Reporter Darek Sharp can be reached at dsharp@tampatrib .com.

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