The Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College Thunder softball team recently completed their recruiting for the 2009 season. The latest recruit for the Thunder is pitcher Joanna Vellekoop of St. Louis Park High School.
"Joanna has been a five-year starter for St. Louis Park," mentioned Thunder coach Kerry Rodd. "She has played on elite summer teams in the Twin Cities and she will be a big addition to the team."
Vellekoop is a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher who played for both the Hopkins and Danes programs in the Twin Cities and she will join a strong incoming class.
"We were in dire need of pitching going into next season," explained Rodd. "As a program we felt we had a lot of other pieces to the puzzle, but we had to get more pitching and with this class we have done just that."
The Thunder have also added another power pitcher in AlBrook's Tiffany Montgomery, as well as a pair of control pitchers in Steph Englemeier of Hermantown and Cloquet's Kristi Gregory.
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"Our only returning pitcher from last year is Stacie Miller and we wanted to avoid having her pitch because she is also a great catcher," Rodd said. "I think adding Joanna will help all our pitchers reach a higher level and hopefully they are excited about getting the chance to pitch at the collegiate level."
The Thunder also added speed and defense to this year's class along with another power hitter when Silver Bay's Natosha Rohloff decided to transfer from University of Wisconsin-Superior.
"Natosha is strong and can hit with power and will fit right in," commented Rodd. "When you add in the speed of Megan Johnson of Esko, Brittany Yagoda of Denfeld and Cheyenne Jacques of Proctor, this could make for an interesting season."
AlBrook's Andrea Morris will be another addition to the Thunder who will add depth in the outfield as well as a bat.
The Thunder also expect three walk-on candidates to try out for the team including Jayme Okerman of Fergus Falls, Jennifer Mell of Eagan and Hollie Hischer of Moose Lake-Willow River.
