Loudoun Softball Alums Going Up Against the Best

Team USA Touring To Prep for Beijing

As the United States Olympic softball team continues its preparations for the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, four Loudoun County natives will have the opportunity to face off with the country's best when a team of Virginia college players takes on the U.S. squad tonight at Kiwanis Field in Salem.

Jenny Clohan (a Broad Run alumna at James Madison University), Kelly Haller (Heritage/Virginia), and Loudoun Valley graduates Jennifer (Radford) and Jessica Everhart (Virginia Tech) were selected as members of the Virginia team, the second-to-last opponent on the Olympic team's "Bound 4 Beijing" tour.

"I think it's going to be a really good experience to play against such a high level of competition," Jennifer Everhart said. "College is one thing, but playing against the best of the best can only help you get even better."

It will be a reunion for the four, who played together in travel softball for the Shamrocks. And for the Everhart sisters, it's an opportunity to play together once again.

"I definitely missed playing with my sister more than anything in the world," Jennifer Everhart said. "I played with her since I was little, and it was hard for me to transition going to play in college without her. . . . I'm most excited about playing the Olympic team with her. That's probably the highlight of my collegiate career, playing the Olympic team with my sister."

The Olympic team is 55-1 on the tour dating to Feb. 19, with the only loss a 1-0 setback to Virginia Tech on March 26 that ended a 185-game non-Olympic exhibition win streak. Jessica Everhart played for the Hokies in the win but was 0 for 3 with three strikeouts.

"I actually played with a lot of the Virginia Tech girls this past weekend in the tournament, and they kept talking about how amazing it was to play" the Olympic team, Clohan said. "It made me even more excited to play."

For Clohan, one of three pitchers on the roster, the prospect of facing the game's best hitters is one that causes some nerves but also provides the opportunity of a lifetime.

"I actually got a call from my coach and she was like, 'How would you feel playing the Olympic team?' " Clohan recalled. "I was like, 'Are you serious?' I thought she was joking. I was shocked. I never thought I'd get a chance to play them."

All four Loudoun natives posted strong seasons for their teams in 2008, with Clohan helping guide JMU to the Colonial Athletic Association championship game and Jessica Everhart helping the Hokies to their first Women's College World Series appearance.

She started all 62 games in which she played for the Hokies this season, hitting .202 with 38 hits, 25 RBI and 19 runs scored and excelling defensively in center field. Jennifer Everhart started 60 games at second base for Radford, hitting .288 with 53 hits, 31 RBI and 33 runs scored.

Clohan posted a 10-8 record with a 2.06 ERA in her junior season. Haller started all 54 games as a sophomore for the Cavaliers and led the team with a .303 batting average, racking up 40 hits and 19 RBI.

"It's the opportunity that I've been looking to for my whole softball career," Haller said. "Always watching these players growing up, and watching [Olympic star] Cat Osterman pitch, I always wonder how I'd do against her, and now I get a chance to see."