Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer

Motlow Softball's Greatest Players

Casundra Jo Sharp (1999-2000)

Casundra Jo Sharp is the only Motlow Lady Buck to be named a first-team All-American by the National Junior College Athletic Association, solidifying her place as one of the greatest Lady Bucks players with the selection following her sophomore season in 2000.

She is arguably the greatest all-around player in school history with her combination of speed, power, and high batting average. She is the only player holding a top ten position in every offensive batting category for both a single season and a career.

Sharp is third in both single-season and career batting average, and her 20 home runs in 2000 is tied for second all-time in a single season. Her 139 career hits stand fifth all time, and her nine triples is tied for third.

Casundra moved on to Tennessee State University and starred for the Tigers in 2001 and 2002. She holds multiple entries in the single-season and career record book for TSU, including her .360 batting average, which is sixth all-time for a single season. She was selected first-team All-OVC in 2001 and her .328 career batting average is third all-time.


Dawn Fox (2000-2001)

Dawn Fox came to Motlow from Cornersville High School in Cornersville, Tenn., and won more games than any pitcher in Lady Bucks softball history in both a single season and a two-year career.

Among her career records, she stands alone at the top of the Motlow record book in total victories with 54 and is second in career earned run average with 1.46. She is third in all-time strikeouts with 354, and her winning percentage of 83% is the best in school history.

Dawn had her best season as part of the 2001 Lady Bucks team that won a school-record 58 contests. She was on the mound for 30 of those wins while suffering only seven defeats. The 30 wins is the most in a single season in school history. Her 24 wins during 2000 is tied for fifth all-time, while her winning percentage of 86% during 2000 is the second-best mark in school history, as is her 235 strikeouts during the same season.


Tabitha Phelps (2002-2003)

Tabitha Phelps is the greatest offensive player in the history of Motlow softball. During her freshman season, she set single-season records that still stand, including 23 home runs and 77 runs batted in. She hit .489, fifth all-time, and her 89 hits is second all-time.

Phelps's career numbers are equally impressive. She stands at the top of the career records in batting average (.460), hits (151), home runs (40), and runs batted in (146). She is sixth all-time in runs scored with 109 and fourth with 54 bases on balls.


Whitney Darlington (2005-2006)

Whitney Darlington stands as perhaps the greatest 'speed' player in the history of Motlow softball. After an outstanding career at Tullahoma High School, where she is regarded as the best player in that school's history, she brought her exceptional talents to Lynchburg.

Whitney holds the all-time career record for stolen bases with 82 and for triples with 14. Her .413 batting average is the fourth-best in school history, and her 150 hits is tied for third all time. She scored 119 career runs, tied for second on the career record list, and her 35 doubles is tied for second all-time.

Darlington was amazingly consistent during her two-year stay at Motlow. She batted .451 in 2005, seventh on the all-time single-season list, and her .434 average in 2006 is 10th all-time. She had 76 hits in 2005 and 74 in 2006, which is the ninth and tenth best in history. Her eight triples in 2005 is the most ever in a single season, and she stole 44 bases in 2005 and 38 in 2006, the second and third-best in school history.

Whitney played two seasons at Middle Tennessee State University following her Motlow career and holds multiple places in the single-season record book. Her eight home runs in 2007 is tied for fourth on the MTSU single-season record list, and her 94 total bases during the same season is fifth all-time.

Whitney returned to Tullahoma following her graduation from MTSU and was the assistant softball coach at her alma mater. She resigned in 2010, becoming an assistant coach and player for the professional softball team the Tennessee Diamonds, also playing professionally in Sweden. She is one of only nine Tullahoma High School athletes to have had their jersey retired.


Kayla Cole (2008-2009)

Kayla Cole was the unquestioned emotional leader of the best team in the history of Motlow State softball. The 2009 edition won the school's only Tennessee Community College Athletic Association (TCCAA) Region VII Tournament championship and advanced to the National Fastpitch Championships in St. George, Utah.

Cole's records and accolades are many, but what separates Kayla from the many other great Motlow softball players was her leadership qualities and her unwillingness to accept defeat. After coming to Motlow from Columbia, TN, Kayla immediately made the Lady Bucks better. She joined with Kasie Meeks in 2009 to form the greatest pitcher-catcher battery in school history.

During the 2009 season, Kayla hit .492, the fourth-best in school history, and had a school-record 90 hits. She slammed 15 home runs, tied for ninth all-time, and her 70 runs batted in is second all-time. Her 69 runs scored is tied for third all-time, and she set the school record with 24 doubles. She was named the Player of the Year by the TCCAA and was named a 2nd-team All-American by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).

Kayla has a place in almost every career batting category, including second in batting average at .437, third in hits with 150, fifth in home runs with 22, fifth in runs batted in with 106, seventh in runs scored with 104, fifth in doubles with 32, and sixth in bases on balls with 51.

Her talents and leadership abilities carried her to Northwest State University in Louisiana, where she earned All-Southland Conference honors her senior season. She led the NSU offense in batting average during each of her two seasons.


Kasie Meeks (2008-2009)

Kasie Meeks was the dominant pitcher on Motlow's 2009 TCCAA/Region VII Tournament championship team, pitching every single inning during the state, as well as the national tournament. Her determination and leadership place her among the all-time greatest players in Motlow history, and her statistics more than solidify her place.

Kasie came to Motlow from Coffee County Central High School in Manchester, TN. There she was named All-District her sophomore and junior seasons and was the District 8-AAA Pitcher of the Year her senior season.

Meeks is tied for third in all-time career wins at Motlow with 42 and is fifth all-time in earned run average at 1.85. Her 424 strikeouts is second all-time, and her 72% winning percentage is tied for third. In the single-season Motlow record book, Kasie is third in wins with 25 and is third and fifth in strikeouts with 224 and 200 respectively.

She was named first-team All-TCCAA in 2009 and was selected as the Region VII Tournament Most Outstanding Player. In addition, Kasie was named an Academic All-American at Motlow and graduated with a 4.0 GPA. She signed to play at the College of Charleston and is now a certified personal trainer by the American College of Sports Medicine.