Deptford naming field after Ayres

Deptford High School on Monday will name its softball field in honor of former star pitcher Nicole Ayres, who was slain in September 2010.

Ayres was an All-South Jersey pitcher for Deptford and was named Atlantic Ten Rookie of the Year after her freshman season at Fordham University in 2007.

Deptford athletic director Maureen Bilda said the Deptford Board of Education has passed a resolution noting Ayres' "outstanding and exemplary athletic accomplishments."

The field behind the high school will be named Nicole Ayres Memorial Softball Field.

Ayres was 22 and enrolled in Rutgers-Camden and planning to play softball for the Scarlet Raptors in the spring when she was found dead of multiple stab wounds near a soccer field in Southampton Township in Burlington County.

Stephen Headley, 28, of Florence, was indicted by a Burlington County grand jury in Ayres' murder in March 2011. His case is pending.