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Denee' Menzione
Position: Outfielder
Class: Junior
Hometown: Darien, IL
High School: Downers Grove South
2008: Second Team All-OVC… Menzione was one of three Panthers to start all 46 games, 39 times in center field… batted in five different spots in the lineup (third through seventh)… led the team with seven home runs, just one shy of the EIU single-season record… ranked seventh in the conference in slugging (.655) and on-base percentage (.466) in OVC play… hit all of her long balls away from home for the second year in a row, including a dramatic seventh-inning, two-out homer at Jacksonville State that lifted the Panthers to victory… registered all of doubles and five of her home runs in OVC play… also batted .328 while walking (15) more than she struck out (13) against conference opponents… reached base safely to begin an inning 42 percent of the time (8-of-19)… led the team with 15 hits with runners in scoring position… collected 10 of her 20 RBIs with two outs… batted .320 (8-for-25) with only two strikeouts and no errors at home… led the team with a .294 average and 15 RBIs in true road games… homered in three straight games, the first Panther to accomplish the feat since 2004, during spring break… hit a three-run shot in the nightcap of the Florida International doubleheader and then went deep in the first two games of the OVC-opening series at Tennessee State… her solo shot in the fourth inning of game one at TSU proved to be the game-winning run… went on to hit safely in a career-best six straight games, capping the streak with her first career three-hit game in the nightcap of the doubleheader sweep of Austin Peay… collected a pair of RBI doubles in that APSU victory… reached base safely in 17 consecutive games in March and April, batting .410 and compiling a .547 on-base percentage during the impressive streak… teamed up with Kiley Holtz for back-to-back home runs in the nightcap of the doubleheader at Southeast Missouri… went 2-for-3 with an RBI, two runs scored and six walks in the Samford series… singled home the winning run in the sixth inning of the nightcap of the Samford doubleheader… went 4-for-7 with a homer, two runs scored and two walks in the doubleheader sweep at Morehead… hit safely in all three games of the Tennessee State and Morehead State series… OVC Top 10 Rankings: eighth in walks… EIU Single-Season Rankings: second in home runs and fourth in walks… EIU All-Time Rankings: third in home runs.
2007: Menzione played in 33 games and started 29 times, all at the hot corner… finished second on the team with four home runs, all of which she hit during the EIU spring break trip in Northern California… led the team in slugging percentage after nine of her 14 hits went for extra bases… was 6-for-21 with RISP… collected nine of her 11 RBIs while batting .304 in EIU victories… homered twice and collected a career-high four RBIs in the victory against UC Riverside… also went deep against nationally-ranked California and in the win at Saint Mary’s… doubled twice in the second win vs. Alabama A&M… doubled, walked twice, scored twice and knocked in a pair of runs in game two of the Southeast Missouri doubleheader… collected a hit in both games of the UT Martin doubleheader… singled and walked in the win over Illinois… EIU Single-Season Rankings: ninth in home runs... HIGH SCHOOL: Denee’ was a three-year letter-winner for coaches Rob Havelka and Jimmy Cushing… also lettered once in basketball… led D.G. South to a runner-up finish at the IHSA State Tournament as a Third Team NFCA All-American in 2006, setting school records in doubles (18) and RBIs (62)… Daily Herald and Suburban Life Area Player of the Year as a senior… also a First Team All-Area and All-State selection by the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times… NFCA First Team All-Region… Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Bandits All-Star Team… Illinois Super 60 selection… two-time All-West Suburban Gold Conference as an upperclassman… 2005 All-Area pick by the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Daily Herald and Suburban Life… Chicago Tribune and Daily Herald Player of the Week in 2005… D.G. South was WSG Conference champs in 2004 and ’06, regional champs in ’05… awarded the 2006 Academic Improvement Award… also played for the Lemont Rockers 18-and-under summer league team.
PERSONAL: No. 1 sports highlight was "playing in the state championship game in high school my senior year"… her high school and summer league coaches have been a major influence on her sports career because "they would always push me to become a better athlete, they believed in me and they worked with me when something wasn’t going right"… most admires those same coaches because "my summer coach worked us very hard and will try to break us, but in the end he is loving and loves us all like we were his own. And my high school softball coach for being a very smart coach with the talent he has"… her brother Marc plays hockey at Bentley College… daughter of Greg and Lori Menzione… MAJOR: Kinesiology & Sports Studies.
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