The North Platte Community College Knights softball  team added to their 2015 -2016 recruiting class as they signed a trio from the state of Colorado on Friday night in the VIP room on the South Campus of North Platte Community College.

The ladies that were signed were Shelby Belloni, out of Lakewood, Colorado; Sami Gill, out of Gilcrest, Colorado; and Antonia Villani, out of Frederick, Colorado.

Knights Head Coach Janelle Higgins said of the three, “We added depth to our middle infield, catcher, and outfield positions. All three are very good athletes, young ladies with great personalities and coachable attitudes that will fit in and mesh well with our returning freshman class.”

Shelby Belloni is an outfielder from Lakewood High School.  Higgins said, “Shelby has very good speed and jump on the ball.” Higgins added that Shelby has a very strong arm, and with losing Odum and Chang, two instrumental players in the outfield, so having a player to be able to play right always will be good.

Belloni plans to study business in college. Shelby said what interested her in coming to North Platte Community College, “I heard about it from Antonia (Villani) and started talking to Coach Higgins and came up for a visit and that is what sold me, Coach Higgins and the environment.”

Shelby, in her senior year batted .508 with 22 runs and 13 runs batted in. She had a .650 slugging percentage and stole 13 bases in 14 attempts.

Sami Gill is a catcher from Gilcrest, Colorado and attends Valley High School. Valley qualified for the Colorado State tournament in 3A this past year.

Higgins said about Gill: “ Sami is a left-handed catcher with a solid arm and a lot of power in the box.  We will definitely be able to use her right out of the gate.”

Gill said what brought her to North Platte is “the nursing program is really good and the softball program I’m also interested in.”  She added, “It’s also a good distance from home, not to far, and not to close either.”

Gill, in her senior year was named to the All-Colorado 3A softball team presented by the Denver Post.

Sami batted .371 with 24 runs scored and 15 runs batted in.  She had a .512 on base percentage and a .500 slugging percentage.

Antonia Villani was a member of the Frederick High School softball team that went 24-1 on the year.  Their only loss was in the state championship game in Class 4A..

Antonia, according to Coach Higgins, will bring depth to our middle infield.  “With the loss of Shannon (Lieber) we are going to need someone to help fill the void and step in to the middle infield spot.”  Higgins added that Antonia has a very strong bat and is “an all-around good player.”

Villani also plans to study nursing while attending North Platte Community College.  She said, “I really like the softball program and Coach Higgins.”

Villani was selected to play in the Colorado Coaches of Girls’ Softball All-Star game.  In her senior year, Villani batted. 295. She also had a .308 on base percentage.  In addition, Villani scored 14 runs and batted in 14.

For more information about the Knights softball program, contact Head Coach Janelle Higgins at (308) 535-3622 or at[email protected] .