Official Site of the Corona Angels: News: HOWARD'S NATIONAL LETTER OF INTENT ANNOUNCED BY THE DUCKS

EUGENE – University of Oregon softball head coach Kathy Arendsen announced the addition of four talented high school seniors who signed National Letters of Intent (NLI) to join the Ducks as freshmen for the 2009-10 season. Allie Burger, OF, RT-LH, Spokane, Wash. (Shadle Park HS / WA LadyHawks) Jessica Moore, P, RT-RH, Sutter, Calif. (Sutter HS) Kaylan Howard, MIF, RT-RH, Riverside, Calif. (Poly HS / Corona Angels) Samantha Pappas, OF-P, RT-LH, Los Flores, Calif. (Tesoro HS / SoCal A’s)

“I’m really proud of this class,” Oregon head coach Kathy Arendsen said. “They’re all players that could make an immediate impact, and are excited about being student-athletes at the University of Oregon and playing in the nation’s top softball conference. They’re hard workers who offer good speed, hit the ball well and have great arms. The balance is nice, too, since we’re strengthening our infield, outfield and pitching areas. Since we will graduate three seniors it’s great that we’re adding four players to help make up for their absence next year.”

Kaylan Howard hit .302 last spring for Poly High School and had 19 hits, 16 RBI and three home runs. She led her team to a fifth-place finish in the South Section final. On the club side, her team took second in the 2008 ASA 18U Gold Nationals and Gold Boulder Independence Day tournaments, and added fifth place in the 2007 Gold Nationals. She attended the 2007 West Coast All-Stars Elite 64 Futures Camp. “Kaylan will battle for playing time at shortstop or second base,” Arendsen said. “She can swing the bat, and has played in a great club program that has produced two of our top current players - Neena (Bryant) and Monique (Fuiava) – so she has an idea about what it takes to play at the Pac-10 level.”