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Longwood softball’s 2021-22 recruiting class solidified in November with the signing of four Lancer newcomers, Head Coach Dr. Megan Brown announced.

Brown, along with assistant coaches Jo Koons and Jesse Dreswick, announced the signing of pitcher/ infielder Maggie Chapin (Shawnee, Kansas), catcher/ third baseman Maryanna Guy (Brandon, Mississippi), infielder Sophia Knock (Liberty, Indiana) and catcher/third baseman Abigail Wyatt (Graniteville, South Carolina) to Longwood’s Big South championship program.

All four Lancers are entering their senior seasons of high school softball this spring, hail from four different states, and will enroll as freshmen on Longwood’s 2023 squad. Chapin (Kansas), Guy (Mississippi) and Wyatt (Indiana) represent Longwood’s first signees from their respective states in the program’s Division I era, while Wyatt will join current freshman Emily Vinson as one of Longwood’s two native South Carolinians.

“Each of these young ladies truly embody the qualities of a Lancer and the rich tradition of Longwood softball,” said Brown.

Those four newcomers will join a Longwood softball program that has established itself as the dynasty of the Big South since joining the conference in 2013, winning five of the league’s past eight conference titles during that span. This past season – their first under Brown – the Lancers secured a third-place league finish and recorded a top-25 win after upsetting No. 16 Georgia 3-2 on opening weekend.

Maggie Chapin is a 5-10 pitcher and corner infielder from Shawnee, Kansas, where she stars as a two-way player at Shawnee Mission Northwest. This past season, she hit .469 with four home runs and 26 RBI while logging a 3.00 ERA and 119 strikeouts on the mound. She was named Shawnee’s best offensive player and received the program’s Best Teammate Award while also collecting All-Sunflower League honorable mention recognition. She also lettered twice in basketball.

A member of the Principal’s Honor Roll and a recipient of the 3-Year Honor Pin, she plans to major in biology at Longwood and attend veterinary school after graduation.

Maryanna Guy is a 5-9 catcher and third baseman from Brandon, Mississippi, and a product of Pisgah High School where she was named the 2021 Region 4-2A Softball Player of the Year as a junior. As the first player in Pisgah’s program history to commit to a Division I school, Guy is coming off a monster junior season in which she hit .534 with a .632 on base percentage, 39 hits and 53 RBI. She is already Pisgah’s all-time home run record holder and, in addition to her 136 career hits and 125 career RBI, is also a three-sport athlete and team captain in softball, soccer and volleyball.

A four-year honor roll student and a member of both the National Honor Society and BETA Club, she aims to major in nursing at Longwood and become a neonatal nurse after graduation.

Sophia Knock is a 6-0 corner infielder from Liberty, Indiana, and a standout three-sport athlete at Union County High School in basketball, softball and soccer. As a junior in 2020-21, she hit .600 with a .698 on base percentage, 63 hits, 50 RBI and 11 home runs on the diamond while also logging more than 1,000 minutes as a goalkeeper on the soccer team and averaging 10.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game on the basketball court. That success continued a years-long trend of multi-sport dominance for Knock, whose career batting average exceeds .560 and already owns Union County’s single-season records for batting average, slugging percentage, on base percentage and walks. She also set the basketball team’s single-season field goal percentage record and has led both her softball and soccer programs to conference titles.

Knock has volunteered at her local 4-H camp and at a local nursing home and plans to pursue a career as a veterinarian.

Abigail Wyatt is a 5-4 catcher and third baseman from Graniteville, South Carolina, where she plays at Midland Valley High School. She is coming off a standout junior season in which she hit .549 with a .961 slugging percentage and seven home runs as Midland Valley’s leading hitter. She also earned both all-region and all-state honors as a freshman and junior. Behind the plate, she did not allow a single stolen base her junior year, which is a school record.

An incoming business administration major, she has volunteered with the Miracle League and aims to own a business after graduating from Longwood.