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Coastal Carolina utility player and Virginia native Sydney Guess will return to her home state to join the Longwood softball program, Lancer head coach Dr. Megan Brown announced Friday.

A left-handed bat from Mechanicsville, Guess was a standout hitter at Coastal Carolina for the past three years and will enroll at Longwood as a senior for the 2022 season. A career .253 hitter, she has belted 60 doubles and six home runs while slugging .384 in 94 career games.

Splitting her time between the outfield, first base and the designated player spot, Guess helped Coastal Carolina amass a 73-53 overall record from 2019-21 while also contributing to the Chanticleers’ 2019 Sun Belt runner-up finish as a freshman starter. Her final two years at Costal Carolina were her most productive at the plate, as she hit a combined .316 (29-for-93) in 2020 and 2021 while striking out just six times in 109 plate appearances. As a junior, she batted a career-high .316 and ended season with a .400 (12-for-30) clip over her final 11 games.

“We are excited to add Sydney to our team and the Lancer family,” Brown said. “She is an extraordinary young woman, and we are excited for what the future holds for Longwood softball.”

Guess’ time at Coastal Carolina followed a decorated career at Lee-Davis High School – now called Mechanicsville High School – where she was a three-time all-conference first-team selection. She batted .390 for her high school career with more than 100 hits to power Lee-Davis to three consecutive conference titles, two 5A South Region championships, and a Virginia 5A runner-up finish.

A communication studies major, Guess was also a president’s list student and a member of the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner’s List at East Carolina. She is also a Division I softball legacy whose mother, Cheryl Guess, and aunt, Stephanie Acors, both played at East Carolina.

The second transfer in Longwood softball’s latest signing class, Guess expands that group of newcomers to seven, joining BYU transfer Reagen Kanagawa from Blue Springs, Missouri and freshmen Er’ron Burton from Suffolk, Corrine Knapp of Woodbridge, Jerzie Nutile of Pasadena, Maryland, Jaden Pone of Hope Mills and Emily Vinson of Lugoff-Elgin, South Carolina.

Guess and her fellow newcomers will bolster a veteran-laden Lancer squad that returns seven starters from last season’s third-place Big South team, including Big South Pitcher of the Year Sydney Backstrom, All-Big South standouts Mason Basdikis, Nia Green, Sydney Jacobsen, and senior starting catcher Alexis Wayland and designated player Madison Blair.