The University of Detroit Mercy will induct seven new members into its Hall of Fame on Jan. 28-29, 2017. The Class of 2017 includes one team, the 2004 Women's Soccer Team, standout student-athletes in Teresa Emery (Softball), Tony Kaseta (Baseball), Shireese Statin (Track & Field), Jack Szczepaniuk (Track & Field) and Mark Sommerfeld (Golf), along with former women's basketball coach and women's athletic coordinator Susan Kruszewski. As we count down to Hall of Fame weekend, DetroitTitans.com will feature each of the seven inductees.
 
DETROIT (1/13/2017) -- It is not often that you have a player replace a future hall-of-famer and then that player goes into the hall of fame too, but that is exactly the path that Teresa (Emery) Scroggins took.
 
"It is quite an honor to be inducted," said Scroggins. "It was certainly some of the best times and the most fun I have had in college and learned so much during that time. It is truly a great honor and I am extremely appreciative of it."
 
She came to the Titans in 1989 after the team lost all-star pitcher and future hall of famer Cindy Crosbie, but she quickly became one of the best pitchers in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (MCC). She helped the Titans win three regular season championships as well as two conference tournament titles.
 
"I remember just traveling down to the Rebel games in Florida as a junior in high school. I started looking at the colleges down there that were playing and how they carried themselves and I like what I saw from Detroit Mercy. From there, I remember sending in my recruiting packet and visiting there and I just loved it," Scroggins remembered.
 
"We were fortunate to have two studs like Cindy and Teresa come back-to-back," said former head coach Nick Stann. "They were the building blocks of some great teams and everyone from the players to the coaching staff all respected each other and worked as a family."
 
As a freshman, she was U-D's top pitcher going 20-8 in the circle with a 1.05 ERA, the first 20-game winner in school history. She totaled 174 2/3 innings and allowed just 140 hits, amassing seven shutouts and helping the program to what was a school-record 37-20-1 mark, including winning the MCC regular season with a 7-1 mark.
 
Even more impressive was the conference tournament as the Titans claimed wins over Evansville (2-1), Notre Dame (1-0) and a pair of wins over St. Louis (3-0, 6-1) to earn the trophy.
 
"I don't remember all the awards and all the games in terms of what I accomplished," said Scroggins. "I remember our teams. I remember the appreciation we had for one another and how we pulled for everyone. We may not have been the most talented, but we were a family and it was great what we accomplished."
 
"Even more was the time not playing softball. I was far away from home and my teammates were my family. They would always take me to their families for holidays because I could not get home and we all became one big family."
 
By the time her junior year came, she was already cemented as one of the best pitchers in school history. In 1991, she helped the Titans break a school record that still stands with 39 wins as the red, white and blue were 39-26, winning the regular season with a 9-1 ledger. She was 20-8 with a 1.70 ERA, throwing 205 1/3 innings and allowing just 171 hits with 24 complete games and eight shutouts and was tabbed the MCC Player of the Year.
 
She beat Notre Dame three times that season, including maybe her best game a 1-0 win over the Fighting Irish in eight innings, where she allowed just one hit.
 
"I do remember some of the games we had against Notre Dame and the success we had. We beat them some and they beat us," but just to think back to playing Notre Dame, they were always great games."
 
Scroggins' final campaign was again highly successful as she posted a .48 ERA – another school record that still stands – with a 16-3 record. Due to scheduling, the team played just 34 games going 26-8, including 7-3 in the MCC for a share of first. Once again it was the Titans and Fighting Irish in the finals and behind solid pitching from Scroggins, Detroit Mercy was victorious 2-1 and 5-0 in the title games.
 
"You are looking at a player who was a pitcher's pitcher and was great in big games," said Stann. "She had total command out there and was a leader for us. She was strong-willed, determined and committed and kept herself in great shape. She was also an intimidating player for us and other teams knew they were in for a tough battle when she was in the circle."
 
She ended her career as a three-time First Team MCC honoree (1989-92) and was Second Team All-Mideast by the National Softball Coaches Association in 1991. In the circle, she ranks first in school history in innings pitched (685), wins (74) and appearances (129) and is second in ERA (1.32). As a senior, she led the MCC with 16 wins and a 0.48 ERA.
 
She graduated from Detroit Mercy with a Bachelor's degree in Special Education and her time off the field was just as important to her as her playing days.
 
"I loved the school and everything they did to prepare me. They invested in me personally and I am grateful for that," added Scroggins.
 
Scroggins was a part of some of the greatest teams and will now be remembered as one of the greatest Titans with her inclusion into the Titan Hall of Fame, just the second softball player to receive that honor behind the pitcher she replaced in the circle.