Missouri softball signs five, wrestling signs eight

Perennial postseason participant Missouri softball signed five new players Wednesday in the first installment of its 2015 class.

The Tigers’ haul includes three in-state players.

Mexico (Mo.) right-handed pitcher Danielle Baumgartner returned six weeks after surgery to repair a torn ACL and led her team to a fourth-place state finish this fall.

Blair Oaks infielder Jolie Duffner from Jefferson City, Mo., picked MU over Wisconsin and Illinois among others.

North Platte outfielder Regan Nash from Camden Point, Mo., batted .602 as a senior after posting a .667 average in the fall of 2013, the seventh-best mark in Missouri state softball history.

Coach Ehren Earleywine also signed catcher/infielder Rylee Pierce from El Diamante High in Visalia, Calif., and infielder/outfielder Kolby Romaine from Rosary High in Chino Hills, Calif.

Pierce chose MU over UCLA and Romaine picked the Tigers instead of Oregon, Notre Dame, Michigan and Arkansas.

Wrestling inks eight

Missouri wrestling, which is ranked sixth in the latest USA Today/National Wrestling Coaches Association rankings, announced eight signings Wednesday.

That list includes Lee’s Summit North’s Keegan McCormick and Lee’s Summit West’s Austin Eveler, who is the reigning Missouri Class 3 champion at 132 pounds.

The Tigers also signed Jaydin Clayton, a three-time Missouri Class 1 champion with a perfect 105-0 record, from Tolton High School in Columbia and three-time Missouri Class 1 finalist Will Roark from Seneca (Mo.).

Additionally, Missouri signed Maize (Kan.) South’s Kevin Kissane, Boylan Catholic’s Alex Butler from Rockford, Ill., Montini Catholic’s Luke Fortuna from Lombard, Ill., and Milbrook’s Dylan Wisman from Winchester, Va.

This story was originally published November 12, 2014 at 7:29 PM with the headline "Missouri softball signs five, wrestling signs eight."