The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Softball Announces Signing Class
11/19/2009 | Softball
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss head coach Missy Dickerson announced the signing of five players to national letters of intent on Thursday. Taylor Cantillo, Londen Ladner, Mallory McNeal, Natalie Nimmo and Marina Parra will all join the program beginning in the 2010-11 academic year.
"We needed to bring in a solid recruiting class to replace the strong senior class we are losing this season," said Dickerson. "This class has the combination of athleticism and academics that will complement our team so we won't miss a beat."
Cantillo comes for Oxford after a stellar prep career at Foothill High School in Tustin, Calif. She earned second team all-state underclass honors as a junior after posting a .437 batting average, four home runs and 21 runs scored and helping lead the Knights to the 2009 Sea View League championship. An outfielder, Cantillo also earned first team All-Country honors from the Orange Country Register and second team All-CIF Division I honors from the CIF-SS Softball Coaches' Association last season.
Ladner, the 2009 Gatorade Mississippi Player of the Year, helped lead Northwest Rankin High School to a 5A state title in 2009 after she led the Lady Cougars with a .517 batting average, seven home runs, 28 RBI and 38 runs scored. A shortstop in high school, Lander is a three-time all-state selection and was named the 2009 Clarion Ledger Mississippi Player of the Year. She also competed in basketball and soccer in high school.
Mallory McNeal joins the Rebels after helping lead Sparkman High School in Huntsville, Ala. to the 2009 Alabama 6A state title. McNeal earned first-team all state honors from the Alabama Sportswriters Associations and was named to the Huntsville Times Elite softball team last season. She played for the Alabama Fury 16U team and led the squad in stolen bases, and was named to the Alabama High School Athletic Association Softball All-Star team.
Nimmo, of Northwest High School in Justin, Texas, earned all-district honors after batting .433 with three home runs, eight doubles, 32 RBI and 22 runs scored as a junior for the Lady Texans. Nimmo also played for the Texas Fusion Gold ASA team and helped lead the Fusion to the ASA 18U Gold Nationals in Oklahoma City, Okla. in 2008 and 2009. She also helped the '91 Texas Elite ASA team to a fifth-place finish at the 2006 ASA 14U Nationals in 2006.Parra comes to Ole Miss from Perris High School in Perris, Calif. where she batted .524 with a .762 on-base percentage for the Panthers last season. An infielder in high school, Parra batted .472 for the Panthers as a sophomore.
