University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Butler, Brenan Jenkins To Play Professional Softball With Michigan Ice
5/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
The three players are the first to sign professional contracts since former standouts Amy Berman, a 1999 and 2000 NFCA/Louisville Slugger All-American and Jennifer Collins were drafted and played for the Akron Racers and Ohio Pride, respectively, of the Women's Professional Softball League in 2000. Former standout All-American Courtney Blades was drafted by the Ohio Pride in 2000, but did not play professional softball.
The trio will compete against each other from June 7-10, as the Butler and Jenkins and the Michigan Ice travel to meet the Brenan and the Texas Thunder in Texas.
The Michigan Ice is a brand new women's professional softball franchise located in Midland, Mich., and is a member of the National Pro Fast-Pitch League. The Michigan Ice will be playing as an independent team in its first year in the NPF and it will hope to join as an official member in 2007. The team will be coached by Dick Blasy, who coaches at Midland Dow HS, and will play its games at Currie Stadium.
The Michigan Ice opens training camp on June 1, will play a 28-game schedule against other pro and national teams, including Arizona, Chicago, the Japanese National Team, the Canadian Elite and the Venezuelan National Team.
The National Pro Fast-Pitch League currently has seven teams and the Michigan Ice's games, even though it is an independent, will count as toward league standings. The season begins on June 7, 2006 and ends on August 20.
Butler was a four-year letterwinner from 2003-06. The second baseman had her best season in 2006, finishing with 15 doubles and 60 hits, while posting a .284 batting average. The 15 doubles were the fourth best single-season performance in school history, and she finished tied for third in Conference USA in that category this season. She was also Conference USA's Hitter of the Week on April 3 this year.
The Pensacola, Fla., native was selected as the 2006 Southern Miss Female Athlete of the Year, earned 2006 National Strength and Conditioning All-American honors, and was a 2006 first-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District selection for the third consecutive year.
Butler concluded her career with a .276 batting average, 172 hits, 33 doubles, four triples, three home runs, 70 RBIs, 222 total bases and 39 stolen bases. She ranks tied for fifth in career hits, tied for sixth in runs, 13th in RBIs, tied for fourth in doubles and eighth in stolen bases.
Jenkins was a three-year letterwinner and played center field from 2002-04, after transferring to Southern Miss from Meridian Community College. She has served the past two years as a graduate assistant for Southern Miss under Head Coach Gay McNutt, working with the outfielders and hitters.
Jenkins' best season came in 2004, as she hit .373, with 57 hits, 41 runs, eight doubles, nine home runs, 29 RBIs, 92 total bases and 11 stolen bases. Her .373 batting average was the fifth-best performance in school history.
She was Conference USA's MVP and a first-team All-Conference USA selection in 2004, also earning third-team Easton All-American honors. Jenkins was also a second-team NFCA All-South Region selection, first-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District, third-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American and National Strength and Conditioning All-American in 2004. She also earned Conference USA Hitter of the Week honors on March 29, 2004.
The Pearl, Miss., native finished her career with a .314 batting average, 74 runs, 108 hits, 15 doubles, 14 home runs, 52 RBIs, 169 total bases and 33 stolen bases.
Jenkins ranks seventh all-time in career batting average, eighth in on-base percentage, fifth in slugging percentage, 12th in runs, 10th in career doubles, eighth in home runs and 10th in stolen bases.
The Texas Thunder have been a member of the National Pro Fast-pitch League since it was created in 2004. The Head Coach is Jay Vela and all of the team's games are played at the Wrigley Field at the Big League Dreams Sports Complex in League, City, Texas. The Thunder finished 35-12 in 2005 and won the league in 2004.
Brenan was a four-year letterwinner and played third base from 2003-06 and earned second-team All-Conference USA honors in 2006. She had her best season this season, hitting .272, while leading the team with 45 runs, 22 stolen bases and 40 walks, the most ever in a single-season, while ranking in the top-five in all three categories in Conference USA. Brenan also posted 50 hits, 10 doubles, eight home runs and 32 RBIs in 2006.
She was a 2006 National Strength and Conditioning All-American and was named to the 2006 Conference USA All-Tournament Team. She was also selected Conference USA Hitter of the Week in 2004.
The Spring, Texas native finished her career with a .258 batting average, 128 runs, 172 hits, 33 doubles, four triples, 20 home runs, 99 RBIs, 94 walks and 59 stolen bases.
Brenan ranks first all-time in career runs, second in walks, tied for fifth all-time in hits, fifth in RBIs, tied for fourth in doubles, fourth in home runs, fifth in total bases and third in stolen bases.
To find out more information on the Michigan Ice and Texas Thunder, visit www.michiganice.net and www.thunderprofastpitch.com.
