University of Tennessee softball coaches Ralph and Karen Weekly saw something in Whitney Hammond’s game that prompted them to make the GPS senior a scholarship offer. Had the coaches blinked, they might’ve missed it.

Hammond has accepted UT’s proposal. Her No. 1 asset is speed.

“She’s the fastest kid I’ve ever coached,” said the 18-under Gold Fury’s Jeremy Higdon, Hammond’s summer coach.

Higdon said he estimated using a stopwatch 100 times on Hammond running from home to first base and she has never registered a time beyond 2.6 seconds.

Hammond has yet to make an official visit to the Knoxville campus. She said she made a brief tour around it.

“I really like the fact that athletes have a lot of help with academics,” Hammond said. “For me academics are very important. I want to excel in life, and to do that you have to make good grades. That’s of high importance to me. The facilities are top-notch, too. It’s incredible what athletes have access to.”

Hammond’s sister, Lillian, will be a senior on the Lady Vols softball team this year. GPS coach Susan Crownover said although the sisters get along well, she thought Whitney might sign elsewhere.

“I think any time the University of Tennessee comes calling, seeing where they’re at now, it just must be hard to resist them when you’re in the state of Tennessee,” Crownover said.

Using her speed as a slap-hitter, Hammond batted .389 with 15 stolen bases and 40 runs scored when the Bruisers won the Division II-AA state championship last spring. She began slap-hitting during her sophomore year.

“Whitney is still fairly new to it but a step ahead of a few,” Crownover said. “I think she’ll make an impact pretty quick, once her opportunity comes around.”

Higdon said Hammond beat out about half of her bunts this summer and will become a more dangerous threat for extra-base hits as she adds muscle to her 5-foot-10 frame.

“If she was able to start really killing the ball, to keep defenses honest, she’d never get thrown out when she bunted the ball,” Higdon said.

Hammond, who will play volleyball at GPS this fall, has a grade point average in the 3.8 range in advanced-placement classes. She’s planning a career in the medical field.

Comments