Tuesday, July 8, 2008

 

JESSICA PETERKA NAMED TUSCULUM SOFTBALL ASSISTANT

 

Jessica Peterka                GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Jessica Peterka has been named the new assistant softball coach at Tusculum College announced Pioneer head coach Fred Gillum.

 

                Peterka will assist with all aspects of the program, working closely with the Tusculum pitchers and catchers.

 

                Peterka, a native of Sarasota, Fla., comes to Tusculum after serving as the Director of Softball Instruction at the MVP Sports Academy in Simpsonville, S.C.  She also has extensive coaching experience, including two years at the 18-U travel ball level and one year each at the 8-U level and a the 12-U level.

 

                Peterka is very familiar with Tusculum and the South Atlantic Conference as she was a four-year starter at Presbyterian College.  She is PC’s all-time home run leader with 22 round-trippers, including eight during her rookie season with the Blue Hose.  She also holds the PC record for career RBI (147), putouts (1228) and walks (62), while batting clean-up all four of her collegiate seasons.

 

                “I’m very excited to have Jessica join our program,” said Gillum.  “She is a competitor who is very passionate about the game.  She will assist with all phases of the program to help develop our players.  She will draw from her experiences at Presbyterian as well as her international play to help take our program to the next level.”

 

During that 2004 campaign, she batted .357 with 11 doubles and 60 RBI as she paced Presbyterian to its best season in school history with a 48-13 record.  That team won the Food Lion SAC Tournament title, while advancing to the finals of the NCAA Division II Regional.  She was named to the SAC All-Tournament team, while also earning SAC Player of the Week honors once in 2004.

 

                Her PC teams posted a 138-85 combined record (.619) while at the Clinton, S.C. school, where she is ranked third in total bases (284), fourth in slugging percentage (.462), fifth in hits (188) and sixth in on-base percentage (.371).

 

                “I feel very blessed to be given this opportunity,” said Peterka.  “Being a college softball coach has always been a dream of mine.  Since being recruited myself as a student-athlete, I have been impressed by the coaches I have met and have been associated with in my career.”

 

                Peterka has extensive club experience, playing against international competition.  In 2005 and 2006, she played in the Canada Cup Women’s Division where her team played the Olympic teams from Australia, China, Japan, Dominican Republic and Canada.

 

                “I hope to make an impact on our players’ lives, help build character, have fun and work hard as we compete for a South Atlantic Conference championship,” added Peterka.

 

                She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Art from Presbyterian in 2007 with an emphasis in photography.

 

                Tusculum College, located in Greeneville, Tenn. is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, USA and is a NCAA Division II member of the South Atlantic Conference which is comprised of nine colleges and universities in Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.

 

- TC -