June 9, 2008

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The North Carolina softball coaching staff has announced the addition of Constance Orr to the squad for the 2009 season. Orr a pitcher/first baseman from Charlotte, N.C. helped lead her Butler High School team to the 2008 4A State Championship for the third consecutive year. A right-handed pitcher, Orr finished the season with a perfect 22-0 record with 231 strikeouts in 140 innings. Orr will be joined in Chapel Hill in the fall by Leah Francona, Kelsey Green and Kelly Wheeler.

"Constance is a pitcher and a first baseman who brings a lot of versatility on defense, is very athletic and will provide power at the plate," head coach Donna J. Papa said. "She comes from an outstanding family and is exactly what a Carolina student-athlete embodies."

Orr finished the 2008 season with a 0.02 ERA, the second-best mark in state history after allowing just four earned runs. She was named the 2008 Southwestern 4A Player of the Year as well as the Charlotte Observer 2008 Player of the Year after her stellar year in the circle.

The addition of Orr brings the 2009 class to four as she joins Leah Francona (INF; Brookline, Mass.), Kelsey Green (SS; McLean, Va.) and Kelli Wheeler (OF; Marietta, Ga.). The quartet joins a Tar Heel team that won a school-record 50 games in 2008 and hosted their first-ever NCAA Regional. Carolina loses the services of a trio of players in seniors Cassie Palmer, Jennifer Jacobs and Ashley Oxendine.