Jacksonville University Softball Clinic – July 16 & 17
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A familiar face will be taking the reins of the Jacksonville University softball program as Erica Ayers will lead the Dolphins in 2018.
“Erica is the right person to step in as head coach of our softball program at Jacksonville University,” said Athletic Director Alex Ricker-Gilbert. “Her experience is vast, and she is ready for the opportunity. The future for our softball program is bright and I couldn’t be more excited for Erica and our student-athletes.”
Ayers came on staff in 2016 as an assistant under former head coach Jennifer Steele and immediately made an impact, primarily working with the Dolphins’ defensive efforts. A 17-year coaching veteran, her defensive efforts saw the team drop its error total from 100 to just 62 while its hitting improved from .240 to .274 in just two seasons. Since arriving at JU, six Dolphins have garnered All-ASUN Conference Team honors, along with an ASUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year and CoSIDA All-District Selection.
“I would like to thank Alex Ricker-Gilbert and his staff for the tremendous opportunity and privilege to lead this program,” said Ayers. “I believe wholeheartedly in the vision that President Tim Cost, [Sr. Vice President of University & Academic Affairs] Donnie Horner and Alex have for JU Athletics and the University as a whole. I owe Jen Steele a thank you as well for believing I could help her build this program two years ago and continuing to believe in me now. A wonderful foundation has been set and I am beyond excited to see how far we can go.”
The 2021 season was the most successful of the Ayers era, as she guided the Dolphins to a 29-20 record and a 9-9 ledger in ASUN play. Jacksonville made its first ASUN Tournament appearance since 2018 and was led by a talented and deep group of seniors, many of whom returned in 2021 as a result of the 2020 season being canceled after 26 games due to COVID-19. JU rattled off nine-straight wins from Feb. 26 to March 7, including a clean sweep of the weekend at the JU UNF Spring Break Challenge in which JU outscored the opposition 46-4 over five games that weekend. ASUN play was highlighted by a series sweep of Stetson March 20-23 and a series win over the Hatters April 2-3. Postseason play saw the Dolphins play their quarterfinal series at UNF and take two of three games from the Ospreys to advance to the Championship Four weekend at Kennesaw State.
The 2020 season was off to a fast start as JU had a 15-11 record before the season was cut short in mid-March out of an abundance of caution as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Carolyn O’Neal lead the team with a .326 batting average while Hannah Roberts had driven in 20 and hit four homeruns. Alyssa Bilodeau recorded eight wins while Seana Mora led the team with a 1.22 ERA.
The Dolphins posted a 15-35 mark in Ayer’s second season in 2019, highlighted by a four-game winning streak from March 6 to March 9 over the likes of Holy Cross, Presbyterian, Georgetown and UNCW. JU also ended the season on a high note, taking two out of three from cross-town rival North Florida in the final weekend of conference play. Newcomer Kassidy Cross led the team with a .388 batting average and took home First Team All-ASUN honors and sophomore Makenzie Buss belted a team-leading six homeruns, while Alyssa Bilodeau recorded a nine-win season and posted a 2.81 ERA with 179 strikeouts in 191 2/3 innings. Nydia Perez was named to the ASUN All-Freshman Team after batting .253 with four doubles, 11 RBI and 15 runs scored.
In Ayers’ first season at the helm in 2018, JU posted a 27-29 record and ranked in the top 20 nationally in stolen bases per game with 1.89. A five-game winning streak during the season saw a doubleheader sweep of George Mason and a series sweep at home against UNF in which the Dolphins outscored the Ospreys 16-2. Alyssa Bilodeau was a 16-game winner in the circle and posted a 2.32 ERA in 190 innings while Madison Ragan led the team with a .346 batting average, while ASUN First Team selection Heather Roberts belted 10 homeruns and drove in 33. Allie McCourt stole 38 bases, the most in a season in program history as she also garnered First Team All-Conference honors. Hannah Roberts was named to the ASUN All-Freshman team after batting .238 and driving in 23 runs.
The Dolphins won 30 games in 2017 – tying the most wins in four years and becoming just the sixth team in the program’s history to win at least that many. JU also finished the season eighth in the nation and set the school’s single season stolen bases record with 113, with help from its .355 on-base percentage and going deep into counts to draw 146 walks on the year.
Ayers came to JU after six seasons at Georgetown. Her resume is decorated by 13 All Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) selections, one CAA Rookie of the Year, and one CAA Player of the Year at George Mason, and nine All Big East honorees with the Hoyas.
Directly responsible for the Hoyas’ defense and hitters, Ayers coached nine All Big East selections during her six years on the Hilltop. In 2013, Georgetown defeated the highest ranked opponent in program history with an upset over No. 8 Louisville, set a new school record for team fielding percentage, and made its first postseason appearance in both program and Big East history. The 2014 season was record breaking, as the Hoyas made their second consecutive trip to the postseason and finished tied for second in the Big East. The Hoyas also set new records for run total, batting average, and wins during the 2014 campaign.
“I have had the distinct honor and privilege of working with Erica for many years. Her passion, drive, and knowledge of the game is second to none,” added Pat Conlon, head softball coach at Georgetown. “I can’t think of another person more deserving. I am excited to see the impact that Erica has on the Jacksonville Athletics Department and her student-athletes.”
Prior to her time at Georgetown, Ayers spent nine seasons as an assistant coach at her alma mater, George Mason University, in Fairfax, Va. Working closely with the Patriot’s infielders and hitters, Ayers helped coach 13 All Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) selections, one CAA Rookie of the Year, and one CAA Player of the Year. Additionally, Ayers has helped develop two Virginia Players of the Year, two first team All Mid-Atlantic Region players and two second team All Region selections.
Ayers played at George Mason from 1997-2000. She started 189 games in the middle infield and finished her career with a .286 batting average, 25 doubles and 66 RBI. During her senior season in 2000, Ayers led the team with a .343 batting average, and was second on the squad with 25 RBI. She currently holds the Patriots’ single-season record for games played (63) and times being hit-by-pitch (16), is third in assists (434) and games started (211), is fourth in at-bats (594), and fifth in hits (170).
The Ashland, Va., native graduated from George Mason in 2000 with a bachelor’s of sciences in health, fitness and recreational resources. She earned her masters in exercise, fitness and health promotion from GMU in 2008.
Blakely Cheek enters her second season with Jacksonville and her first as a full-time assistant coach in 2023-24. Cheek spent her first year with the Dolphins as a volunteer assistant. She works with the hitters as well as the infielders.
Coach Cheek’s impact was felt right away as Jacksonville had a 10-win improvement from the 2022 season to 2023 and qualified for the ASUN Conference Tournament. The offense improved as well in 2023 in many areas including runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI, total bases, walks and hit-by-pitches. The team fielding percentage also improved from .939 in 2022 to .957 in 2023. Junior infielder Kari Holzrichter was named First Team All-Conference as a utility player in 2023, her first all-conference honor.
Several hitters came through with career-years under Cheek’s guidance in 2023. Junior infielder Madison Reynolds set career-bests across the board leading the Dolphins hitting .323 with 51 hits, 28 runs scored, 12 doubles (tied for sixth-most single-season program history), 28 RBI, 22 walks, 10 stolen bases, slugged .449 and a .412 on base percentage. Sophomore Tatiana Davis improved her average tremendously while becoming a starter and led the team with four triples, the third-best single-season total in Jacksonville history. Junior Allison Bratek smashed a career-high and team-leading eight home runs (tied for eighth-most single-season in program history) and was second with 27 RBI.
Cheek – formerly Blakely Burch – starred at third base at Marshall University from 2018-21. After initially beginning her collegiate career at USC Upstate (2017), Cheek transferred to the Herd and quickly became a leader. Cheek consistently made great plays from the hot corner and helped lead Marshall to an appearance in the 2019 Conference USA Tournament Championship game. That same season, Cheek ripped off seven triples, ranking sixth in the NCAA, and set the Marshall single-season record. She hit two walk-offs in her career. The first was a 2-run double against Louisiana Tech to take the series at home on Emileigh Cooper Day in 2019, and the second was an RBI single versus East Tennessee State in 2020.
Cheek was honored as the 2021 Warrior Award winner, named in memory of former Herd player Emileigh Cooper, after coming back from a devastating knee injury in 2020 to play again in 2021 while finishing her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Marshall and working toward the accelerated nursing program at Jacksonville. Cheek was a three-time member of the Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll. In her career with the Herd, Cheek appeared in 147 games with 135 starts, had 88 hits, scored 70 runs, 17 doubles, nine triples (fourth all-time at MU), 12 home runs, 27 hit-by-pitches (sixth all-time at MU) and slugged .422.
Cheek graduated from Marshall with a bachelor’s degree in exercise kinesiology in 2020 and a master’s degree in healthcare administration in 2021. She will graduate from the nursing program at Jacksonville in 2024.
Blakely grew up less than 90 minutes away from Jacksonville in Live Oak, Florida, and comes from an athletic family. Her father (David Burch) played college baseball at South Alabama winning the Sun Belt title in 1983 and playing in the NCAA Tournament. He also played professional Slow Pitch softball for 10 years. Her grandfather (Gerald Burch) was a three-time All-SEC receiver and punter at Georgia Tech and then played one year in the American Football League with the Oakland Raiders in 1961.
Blakely is married to Jackson Cheek.
Jake Sidwell joined Jacksonville Softball as an assistant coach in July 2023.
Sidwell’s main role is to focus on hitting instruction and also assist in recruiting efforts for the Dolphins.
He comes to JU from Virginia, where he served on the Cavaliers staff for the past four seasons. He primarily worked with the offense and hitters and was the program’s recruiting coordinator. The offense at UVa saw steady year-over-year improvements under his tutelage, he oversaw the development of multiple All-ACC selections in 2022 and 2023 and the recruiting classes he helped build were ranked in the top-30 nationally each of the last three years.
Prior to his time in Charlottesville, he worked in baseball for several years. He spent one season as a volunteer assistant at George Washington, tutoring hitters and catchers. The year prior, he was a graduate assistant at VCU, managing the bullpen and helping with the pitchers.
A two-year team captain at Davidson, Sidwell was a standout catcher who was named a Rawlings Gold Glove finalist his senior season in 2017. That same year he helped the Wildcats win the Atlantic 10 Championship and the Chapel Hill Regional, when he showed an early propensity for coaching by calling the pitches for the team that season. The Windermere, Florida native was drafted in the 39th round of the 2013 MLB Draft out of Olympia High School.
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