Softball Signs Two to National Letters-of-Intent
11/17/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Nov. 17, 2011
TULSA, Okla. - The University of Tulsa softball team signed two high school student-athletes - Catherine Horner and Caitlin Sill - for the 2013 season during the November signing period, head coach John Bargfeldt announced today.
Horner is a catcher from La Canada, Calif., while Sill is a pitcher/first baseman who hails from Tuttle, Okla. Both players are expected to provide quality depth and challenge for positions in the lineup on a Tulsa team that won the 2011 Conference USA Championship and is loaded with young experience.
"We're excited to welcome Caitlin Sill from Tuttle, Okla., and Catherine Horner from La Canada, Calif.," Bargfeldt said. "They've played a very high level of travel ball and on their high school teams. We feel like this is going to add some very crucial depth to our team. We aren't going to lose too many players this year, but in the following two years we do lose quite a few players. So to have these players in maybe a year earlier than their positions start to thin out, will give us a chance to really work them into our system and see where their skills will best fit into our program."
"What's more important is that both of these kids are just quality students and quality people as well," Bargfeldt continued. "We're looking for their hard work when they come in here. We know that they have a passion for the game, and that's the type of players that we like to have in our program."
Sill is a four-year letterwinner in softball at Tuttle High School. She has compiled a 98-18 record in the circle with a 0.81 ERA, while hitting .347 with 12 home runs, 97 RBI and a .422 on base percentage in her career. She led her team to a Class 4A runner-up finish as a senior. In injury-shortened 2011 season, Sill posted a 10-2 record with a 0.97 ERA, and a .375 batting average. As a junior, Sill went 8-0 with a 0.77 ERA, a .413 batting average with 10 home runs, 42 RBI and a .526 on base percentage.
Sill is a 2011 Oklahoma All-State selection, and has twice been a Little All City selection by the Daily Oklahoman and a Sooner Conference All-Star selection. She is also a four-year letterwinner in track and field at Tuttle High School.
"Pitching is Sill's main focus," said Bargfeldt. "We'd like for her to be a very important pitcher for us in the future. We don't lose a pitcher this year and we have a pretty talented staff, and she is just going to add to that mix. She has the ability to throw some quality movement pitches that I think can be very successful at this level. As far as being a hitter goes, she is a very powerful hitter, so she'll join that mix of giving us an option in the lineup where she can create a lot of competition for those positions for power as a right-handed hitter."
Horner is a three-year letterwinner in softball at La Canada High School with her senior season to be played in 2012. In her first three seasons of high school softball, she has posted a .364 batting average with 44 RBI, 65 runs scored and 37 extra base hits, including 30 doubles. She has stolen 18 bases in 21 attempts. Behind the plate, she has caught more runners stealing (36) than she has allowed stolen bases (28), and committed just two errors in three seasons. She led her team to the California CIF Southern Section Division 5 Championship in 2011, and three Rio Hondo League Championships from 2009-11.
A multi-sport athlete, Horner also lettered all four years in volleyball, where she totaled 418 digs and 105 service aces as a defensive specialist, and led her team to four straight Rio Hondo League Championships from 2008-11.
"Catherine has been playing on a travel team in California, and even her high school team that has a lot of Division I performers on it. She's caught Division I pitching with her travel team and her high school team," Bargfeldt said. "She has been putting up some very impressive numbers. We're excited about what she's been able to accomplish, typically in an area of California that's pretty strong, in terms of competition and who she faces. She's very excited to be with us."
For all Tulsa softball news and information, visit www.TulsaHurricane.com. Follow Tulsa Athletics on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaHurricane and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaHurricane.
