PLANET FASTPITCH 

Denise Davis

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Denise Davis is the founder and owner of Planet Fastpitch, LLC.  Located in Uxbridge Massachusetts, Planet Fastpitch trains over 1000 players and coaches each year in a 27,000 square foot performance center that now includes an indoor softball field complete with infield clay.  Committed to personalized attention, Planet Fastpitch has created a strong and positive culture in New England while offering innovative instruction in all softball skills in a supportive environment.  Denise graduated from Rutgers University with a B.S. in Exercise Science and Sports Management and from The University of Rhode Island with a Master of Business Administration degree.  Her softball career at Rutgers earned Atlantic 10 All-Conference, Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference and All-Northeast Region Honors, winning an Atlantic 10 Championship and a berth to NCAA Tournament.  She was also a First Team All-American in Women’s Majors Fastpitch playing for the Topton VIPs.   Denise served as an assistant coach at URI for 6 years and as a consultant for Boston University, UMass, Bryant University and United States Coast Guard Academy before devoting full time to research and training.  She is currently a pitching coach for a roster of collegiate pitchers and has privately coached several professional and Olympic pitchers.  Davis won the Small Business Association (SBA) for the 2007 Person of the Year, is a tenured speaker at the World Softball Coaches Convention, is FMS, OnBaseU, K-Baseball and K-Motion Certified and a softball research partner with Massachusetts General Hospital Orthopaedics Sports Performance Center and Figur8 Inc. 

Brandice Balschmiter

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Brandice Balschmiter is a 2010 graduate of the University of Massachusetts earning a B.A. in Studio Arts. Brandice was a four-year starter for UMass from 2006-09 where she compiled a 126-33 record with a 0.99 earned run average. She ended her career with 1,218 strikeouts, which, at the time, ranked 21st in NCAA Division I history. Additionally, her 126 victories are currently ranked 10th nationally, her 137 complete games are tied for 11th and her 68 shutouts are tied for 14th. While at UMass she recorded 3 perfect games and compiled 10 no-hitters.  The native of Newark, N.Y. was named the Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year and Tournament Most Outstanding Player a record 4 years in a row, in addition to being named A-10 Pitcher of the Week a record 28 times. Brandice was the fifth overall pick in the 2009 National Pro Fastpitch Draft by the Chicago Bandits where she helped the team to the regular-season crown. She was a member of the 2009 Pan American Qualifier Gold Medal squad and an alternate for the 2010 U.S. National Team. Brandice returned to UMass in the fall of 2012 as an Assistant Coach. Prior to 2012 Brandice spent three years at Planet Fastpitch where she was an instructor.

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Shannon Smith

Lydia Hanewich

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Lydia Hanewich is a 2017 graduate of Clemson University where she earned a B.S. degree in Health Science with a minor in Athletic Leadership. Lydia trained in the PFP Varsity Program for five years and played softball at the University of Mary Washington before transferring to Clemson to pursue rowing. During Lydia’s athletic career at Clemson, she rowed in Clemson’s top Varsity 8+ boat and received the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association National Scholar Athlete Award in years 2016 and 2017. She was also named the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) All American Strength and Conditioning Athlete of the Year 2016.  Lydia is a Certified Functional Strength Coach and has gained great experience in the field while interning at Mike Boyle Strength & Conditioning and Clemson ‘s Olympic Weight Room. Currently Lydia is a MBA graduate student at Clemson and is also working as a strength coach at Velocity Sports Performance. After Lydia graduates, she aspires to open up her own strength and conditioning facility specifically for female athletes and may consider training for the Women’s National Lightweight Rowing team.

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Kerri Jacklets

Kerri Jacklets comes to PFP after serving as the Head Coach for the Providence College Friars for 13 years. While at Providence, Jacklets coached 22 All-Conference players (Big East), 5 All-Region (Great Lakes), 1 All-American nominee and had multiple Player-of- the -Year nominations.  In 2017, one of the strongest offensive years, Jacklets recruited a player on the top 50 watchlist.  Since 2010, 123 of Jacklets’ student-athletes earned a spot on the All-Big East Academic team along with 10 straight years of the program earning at 3.0 GPA or higher in each semester.  In addition, 14 Chi Alpha Sigma recipients (3.5+gpa) and 2 Student-Athletes of the Year for Providence College, Jacklets established a competitive program designed to help ready players for beyond the college playing experience.  In 2017 most major offensive records were broken at PC and in 2018 Providence established itself as one of the top defenses in the Big East (.971 Fielding %) and top 3 in pitching ERA.  During her tenure at PC, Jacklets served as President of the Big East for 2 years as well as being the conference representative for the Division I Head Coaches committee.  Over the past 11 years, Jacklets has owned and operated Jacklets Softball School, LLC that focused on player development and exposure in the softball community.   Before Providence, Kerri was the 1stAssistant at Brown University where they last won an Ivy League Championship in 2004 while coaching both a Player and Pitcher of the Year in the conference.  As a graduate of Providence College and All- Northeast region catcher, Jacklets earned a BA in Arts in 2001.  Team captain in her last 2 years and a Big East Academic All-American in 3 consecutive years, Coach is bringing a wealth of knowledge in team design and individual skill development while maintaining clear vision on creating the total student-athlete.  

Olivia Gamache

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Olivia Gamache is a 2014 graduate of Tennessee State University where she earned a B.S. degree in Health Sciences with a concentration in Athletic Training. Olivia’s senior year was her most successful year during which she posted a career best 3.20 ERA while throwing over 120 innings and striking out 89 batters. Her career best in single-game strikeouts came against North Carolina A&T when she fanned nine batters. Olivia picked up the win in her final game for the Tigers, beating Belmont 5-3, giving up only one run in five innings. Her collegiate career placed her on seven Career Top 10 lists. She is also listed six times in the single season record books in five categories. In her Senior year of high school in 2010 she led her Exeter West Greenwich HS team to the State Title. During this time Olivia was named first team all-division and first team all-state. Olivia is also a  PFP Varsity School Alum. She still attends class weekly to catch for her sister, Janelle. Currently, Olivia is the Director of Operations at The University of Rhode Island.

Ellen McDonnell

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 Ellen is a 2019 graduate of Lafayette College in Easton, PA earning a degree in government and law with a minor in Spanish. A native of Warwick, RI, she earned All-State honors in her time at Pilgrim High School. At Lafayette, Ellen played four years as an outfielder/utility player and served as captain her senior year. Though spending most of her time in the outfield in college, she trained in both pitching and catching Varsity School Programs at Planet Fastpitch. A longtime member of the Planet Fastpitch family, Ellen was a member of the Varsity School for 5 years, serving as a junior instructor in high school and throughout college. As an instructor at Planet Fastpitch, she has worked to grow the Rookie School program, and coached at various camps including the Elaine Sortino Softball School. Ellen hopes to share her excitement and passion for the game with the next generation. 

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Megan Colleran

I'Meg is a 2018 graduate of UMass Amherst where she was a four-year starter and a captain of the Minutewomen her senior year.  Native to North Attleboro, Meg was the Gatorade Player of the Year for Massachusetts in 2014. A longtime member of Planet Fastpitch, Meg was a part of Varsity School for 5 years and has been a part of PFP since she was 11.  Planet Fastpitch holds some of the best memories for her and she is beyond excited to be on the coaching side after being on the player side for so long. Meg knew she always wanted to have softball in her life and she couldn’t think of a better place to carry on her love of the game than teaching at PFP.