The Chattanooga Mocs will open the 2023 season on the road at the Charleston Challenge hosted by former Southern Conference foe College of Charleston at the Patriot's Point complex. On Day One, the Mocs will start the Challenge against James Madison in the opening game then host CofC mid-afternoon. The second day will see UTC face Indiana State in the first game of the day then the Cougars again in the 3:00 p.m. game. Sunday's game against James Madison will wrap up the opening weekend.
 
OVERVIEW
The Chattanooga Mocs enter the 2023 season with two seniors, four juniors, seven sophomores and nine freshmen.
 
The Mocs went 30-27 overall last year and finished third in the Southern Conference standings with a 9-9 mark. Chattanooga went on to claim the SoCon Tournament title in a thrilling come-from-behind victory, beating out top-seeded UNCG for the crown.
 
UTC is projected to finish third again this season by a narrow margin in the SoCon Coaches Preseason Poll. Senior Emily Coltharp was selected the preseason favorite for Player of the Year. She was joined on the Preseason All-Conference team by fellow senior Brooke Parrott. Kailey Snell, Adison Keylon and Kendall Forsythe were named to the Second Team by the league coaches.
 
SENIORS
The 2023 UTC softball team is led by seniors Emily Coltharp and Brooke Parrott. Coltharp was the NCAA Women of the Year Socon nominee and earned SoCon All-Conference First Team honors and was selected to the SoCon All-Tournament Team. She led UTC with a .381 batting average as the primary lead-off hitter becoming the first Moc since 2012 to win the SoCon batting title. She registered a league-best 72 hits in 189 at bats, 30^th in Division I, and tied for second in the league for stolen bases with 24.
 
Brooke Parrott was named the Southern Conference Tournament Most Outstanding Player after posting a 4-0 mark in the championship. She was named the league's Pitcher of the Month twice and Pitcher of the Week once. She went 16-9 in the circle in 28 starts and 10 relief appearances. She became the first Mocs pitcher to win 16 games since 2016. Parrott had nine complete games, three by shutout, and registered a pair of saves. Through 155 innings, she held a 2.48 ERA, allowed 55 runs with 88 strikeouts and 72 walks.
 
In the SoCon Tournament, Parrott pitched 25 of the 30 innings. She threw a 1.12 ERA and recorded 14 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .163 batting average. She threw two complete games in four starts in the tournament.
 
JUNIORS
Kailey Snell, Kendall Forsythe and Adison Keylon were all named to the SoCon Preseason All-Conference Team. The trio accounted for 67 hits, 12 home runs and 38 RBI in 2022.
 
Snell played and started 53 of the Mocs 57 games last season with most at shortstop. She led the team with 11 sacrifice bunts, tied for 13 in the nation. She led the SoCon and was 25^th in the nation with a .21 sac bunts per game. Snell recorded 42 hits with 17 RBI. She walked 11 times in 2022 and recorded 10 steals on 12 attempts. Snell had 77 putouts with 134 assists and 11 errors with a .950 fielding percentage. She had 11 multi-hit games that included three games with three hits.
 
Kaili Phillips made 55 starts and played in all 57 games with most at third base for the Mocs in her sophomore campaign. She led the Mocs was fourth in the SoCon with a team-high 13 home runs and led the Mocs with 35 RBI. She hit .250 with a .563 slugging percentage. Phillips tied for 13^th in the country and was second in the conference with 18 HBP. She registered a two five RBI games and hit the game-tying homerun in the Southern Conference Championships against UNCG to force extra innings. She had a pair of two homerun games and set a career-high with three walks against ETSU.
 
Adison Keylon made 26 starts in 2022 with 47 game appearances primarily in right field. She had a .234 batting average with a .545 slugging percentage. She had 18 hits in 77 plate appearances and scored 16 runs. Keylon tied for third on the team with eight home runs and belted three of those in the Mocs final series of the 2022 regular season with two in the opening game against Western Carolina and a third in the final game.
 
Kendall Forsythe made 10 starts in 19 games, primarily as a designated player. She posted a career-high three hits and three runs scroed against UAPB and hit .179 with a .436 slugging percentage and .273 OBP.
 
SOPHOMORES
Chattanooga returns seven sophomores each from a different state.
 
Acelynn Sellers was named to the SoCon All-Freshman Team. She made 55 starts, primarily at first base for the Mocs, posted a team-best 11 multi-RBI games and tied for the team lead in doubles. She posted a .276 batting average with 32 RBI, 14 doubles and four home runs. The Baylor High School grad set a career-high with three hits including two doubles against ETSU. Sellers finished the season in the Top-Five for batting average, slugging percentage, runs scored, hits, doubles, home runs, walks and sac bunts.
 
Jayce Purdy made 20 starts for the Mocs with most behind the plate and appeared in 38 games. She hit for 262 with three home runs and eight RBI. She posted a career-best three hits against North Carolina A&T and had her first career home run against UAPB.
 
Olivia Lipari started in all 57 games for Chattanooga with most in left field and five at second base. She hit .272 with eight home runs and 28 runs scored. She had a .480 slugging percentage and a .367 on-base percentage. Lipari had six doubles and a team-best three triples and was eighth in the SoCon with 25 walks. She was one of three SoCon players with three or more triples. She tied for second on the team with 11 multi-hit games, set a season-high four RPB against UAPB and went 4-for-5 on stolen bases.
 
Izzy Alley made 17 starts and appeared in 29 games in the circle in her freshman campaign. In 91 innings of work she had 56 strikeouts and 44 walks, holding opponents to a .272 batting average. Her first career win came in a complete-game 5-4 victory over Toledo and she fanned a career-best seven batters against North Carolina A&T.
 
Alyssa Lavdis made one start in the circle for Chattanooga as a rookie and made 13 appearances. She had a 3.46 ERA with a 3-2 record and one save. In 26.1 innings she had 13 strikeouts and allowed 13 earned runs. In her longest outing of the year, she threw 5.2 innings against Furman and allowed one unearned run on three hits with three strikeouts and a walk. She threw two innings in the SoCon Championship game and posted her first career save against ETSU going 2.1 innings out of the bullpen.
 
Abby Orr played in four games for Chattanooga with four at bats. She registered two put outs at first base against UAPB.
 
Presley Williamson made 40 starts, mostly at catcher, in 49 appearances for the Mocs. She hit .234 with 25 hits in 107 at bats. She had six doubles and three home runs. Her first career hit was also her first RBI in her first-ever at bat. She became the first freshman to drive in the season's first run since 2013. She had the fewest strikeouts on the team among players with 100 or more at bats and drove in 10 runs while scoring 15 times. Williamson had six multi-hit games and two multi-RBI games.
 
FRESHMEN
Head coach Frank Reed added nine freshmen to the 2023 roster. That includes three from the Volunteer State, three from nearby Georgia, a pair from California and one from New York.
 
Reagan Duran comes to Chattanooga from Siegel High School in Murfreesboro where she hit .519, had 41 extra base hits, 61 stolen bases and recorded at least one hit in every game last season.
 
Hannah Pfeifer out of Farragut High School in Knoxville helped her team to the Division I Class AAA state title last season. She hit .351 with a .395 on-base percentage and in travel ball, registered 24 hits in 34 at bats hitting above .700.
 
East Hamilton High School's Emma Sam Reed joins the Mocs this season. She had a .345 batting aveage with 14 home runs and a .400 on-base percentage. She posted a 4.0 in the classroom.
 
Riley Kokinda from nearby Heritage High School in Ringgold, Ga., posted a career batting average of .427 with 62 stolen bases. She helped the Generals to three state championship titles was a three-time All-State First Team selection and named All-State twice. She was named to the 2019 and 2021 Chattanooga Times Free Press "Best of Preps".
 
Zoe Wright, also from Heritage High School was a four-time All-Region honoree. She hit .366 with 25 RBI. She hit .447 last season with a .429 on-base percentage.
 
Taylor Long comes to Chattanooga from nearby Calhoun, Ga.'s Sonoraville High School. She went 25-3 in the circle with 408 strikeouts and a 0.48 ERA last season. She hit .333 at the plate with 13 extra-base hits and 22 RBI. She wrapped up her career with 51 wins and 998 strikeouts.
 
Chattanooga landed another pair from California including Shayna Glass from Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. She hit .359 last season with 26 RBI, 13 stolen bases and 39 runs scored. She ranked in the Legacy and Legends Softball Elite Top 150 for the class of 2022.
 
Peja Goold from Stockton, Calif., posted a 1.46 ERA in 72 innings of work in the circle with 155 strikeouts and a .145 opponent batting average. She was an Athlete of the Year nominee and Prep Athlete of the Week her freshman year and Cal-Hi NorCal Athlete of the Week as a junior.
 
Anna Dovey from Lancaster, N.Y., pitched and played third base for St. Mary's High School. She was selected to the All-Western New York and All-Catholic First Team in her junior and senior years. She helped the Lancers to a runner-up finish in the state final.
 
TOURNAMENTS
Chattanooga opens the 2023 campaign on the road at the Charleston Challenge hosted by the College of Charleston at Patriot's Point. The Mocs will take on host CofC and James Madison twice over the three-day tournament and Indiana State once.
 
The Mocs will host the annual Chattanooga Challenge and Frost Classic. In the Challenge, UTC welcomes Marshall, Indiana State, Western Illinois and Maine. Coming to the Scenic City the next weekend will be Akron, Southeast Missouri State, Eastern Illinois, UNLV, Western Michigan and Memphis.
 
Chattanooga's two home tournaments will be played at the quad at Warner Park while Frost Stadium undergoes renovations.
 
March will begin with the Mocs heading to North Carolina for the Gardner-Webb Red and Black Tournament. UTC will take on Sacred Heart and Harvard the first day with a repeat against SHU on Day Two along with host Gardner-Webb. Sunday's finale will be against Detroit Mercy.
 
Florida is calling again for the Mocs over Spring Break. Chattanooga will take on Iowa, New Mexico State, Hartford, Sacred Heart, Bucknell, Princeton and Iowa over four days of the Madeira Beach Invitational.
 
NON-CONFERENCE
Chattanooga will host Tennessee State between home tournaments on February 22. Following the Madeira Beach Invitational, the Mocs will head south for a three-game series against Florida Gulf Coast before heading north the next week to face Virginia Tech in a double-header. March will end with a game against Lipscomb.
 
After the Mocs' opening SoCon series, the team will travel to Georgia State for a pair of games and conclude non-conference play in April at Austin Peay.
 
SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
Chattanooga opens Southern Conference play on the road at Mercer at the start of April and then will return home to take on Western Carolina in the newly renovated Frost Stadium on April 7-8. UTC will hit the road for a series at ETSU before coming back to Chattanooga to face UNCG for the first time since the SoCon Championship final. A trip to Furman wraps up the Mocs games on the road for the regular season and they will host Samford in the season-finale.
 
The Southern Conference Tournament will return to the Scenic City May 10-13.
 
Season tickets and tournament tickets are on sale online at GoMocs.com. Get yours today to cheer on your favorite local team.