VERMILLION, S.D.—South Dakota seniors
Dustie Durham and
Jessica Rogers are two of the Summit League softball "Players to Watch" as selected by the league's head coaches The Summit League announced Thursday.
Durham was the top utility player in the league a season ago. In her first year with the Coyotes, Durham was 11-13 in the circle with an ERA of 4.83 and 81 strikeouts. Inside the batter's box, she hit .292 with 12 extra-base hits, 21 RBIs and 11 runs scored. In Summit play, Durham batted .390 (16-for-41) with a .634 slugging percentage.
Rogers was an NFCA all-region honoree, a first-team all-Summit pick and the runner-up for Summit Player of the Year last season. She hit .376 with a team-high 45 RBIs, second-most in the Summit and ninth-most in program history. Rogers blasted a league-best 15 home runs, second-most in program history and seventh-most in Summit history. Rogers has been the league's first-team catcher in each of the last two campaigns.
The Coyotes are set to begin their third season under
Robert Wagner Feb. 8 at a tournament hosted by Charleston Southern in Charleston, South Carolina.
