FLORENCE, S.C. – Francis Marion University softball coach Stacey Johnson Vallee has announced that catcher Jamie Holmes of Monroe, Wash., will attend FMU this fall and join the Patriot squad.

Holmes, a 5-3 left-handed batter, is a product of Monroe High School, where she played for coaches Rob Forsberg, Kent Stanley, Curt Eskeback, and Mike Birch.

This past spring, she earned first-team All-League and second-team All-Area honors, while helping lead the Bearcats to a 23-4 record and a program-best ninth-place finish in the state tournament. Monroe won the WesCo Conference title with a 15-1 mark. Holmes was also named to the Northwest WesCo All-Star Team.

Francis Marion lost only one senior, catcher Jamie Wiggins, from its 2006 squad that finished 27-16. For the third straight year, the Patriots narrowly missed earning a bid to the NCAA Division II national tournament.

Holmes becomes the fifth newcomer to join the Patriot program for 2007.