Softball: Lady Hawks make postseason debut at GSC tourney

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Their time has finally arrived.

On Thursday, the Shorter softball team makes its debut in the NCAA postseason spotlight when the Lady Hawks take the field at Steel’s Diamond at Blazers Park in Valdosta as the No. 4 seed in the 2015 Gulf South Conference Softball Tournament.

“It’s been a long time coming,” head coach Al Thomas said as the Lady Hawks (34-14) open the tourney facing No. 5 seed Union at 12:30 p.m.

“It’s even sweeter that we’re playing after we were denied the chance to play in the tournament the past two years,” he added about the program’s non-eligible status to be a part of the event while Shorter was making the transition to the Division II level. “This weekend we begin another chapter in the program’s book.”

The first page of that new chapter will no doubt include the fact that the Lady Hawks begin the postseason competing in arguably the toughest Division II conference in the nation as the top three seeds are top 20 teams.

Heading that list is host Valdosta State, the No. 1-ranked team in the nation – the Lady Blazers (46-5) won the 2012 national title and was the runner-up last year – that will be gunning for their seventh straight GSC crown, while No. 11 Alabama-Huntsville (37-12) and No. 16 North Alabama (32-10) have conference and national designs. Sixth-seed Delta State (26-22) round out the field.

“We’ve beaten all of the other five teams and all five of those teams have beaten us. It’s wide open,” Thomas said about the loaded field.

Shorter enters the tournament having closed out the regular season last weekend setting the table for the tournament by winning its three-game GSC series at North Alabama and squares off against a Union squad that the Lady Hawks split with during the regular season.

The Lady Hawks, however, will bring a squad into the tournament that has established themselves as a contender, with five players earning the program’s first-ever All-GSC accolades.

Garnering first-team all-conference honors earlier this week were senior catcher Paige Rowland and freshman outfielder Niki Cook, who was also named the SC’s Freshman of the Year, while freshman pitcher Amanda Blanchard, senior pitcher Maddie Bray and junior shortstop Kendall Johnson were second team picks.

Rowland is closing out her final season with the Lady Hawks boasting a .374 average at the plate, with 12 extra base hits including five home runs. The catcher from Eufaula, Ala., also boasts a .990 fielding percentage while throwing out 13 would be stolen bases.

A native of Buford, Ga., Cook made an immediate impact in her first season with the Lady Hawks leading the conference in stolen bases during the regular season with a near-perfect performance, swiping 50 in 51 attempts, and with 1.1 steals per game she ranks second in the nation. As the lead-off hitter, Cook is hitting .385 and has scored 49 runs.

Johnson led the Lady Hawks with a .396 batting average and drove in a team-high 41 runs; Bray – a preseason GSC selection – has a 10-9 record and a 2.30 ERA; and Blanchard led the team with a 16-3 record with a 2.21 ERA and 120 strikeouts.

Having a pair of pitchers with proven numbers is a huge plus for the team, Thomas pointed out, noting that instead of seeing a foe’s No. 1 hurler twice during a three-game regular-season GSC series the double-elimination tourney demands pitching depth.

“In a double-elimination tournament like this,” he said, “that No. 1 pitcher won’t be able to pitch two-thirds of the time.”

Against Union, however, the Lady Hawks will more than likely face one of the best pitchers in the conference in senior Kelly Robey, who leads GSC in wins (28), strikeouts (317), complete games (31) and innings pitched (249.)

“She’s phenomenal,” Thomas said of Robey.

The winner of Thursday’s tilt between Shorter and Union return to the field at 5:30 p.m. to face top-seeded Valdosta State, but the Lady Hawks’ opener is critical as in addition to seeking the championship they are mindful that they can help their chances of getting an at-large berth to the national tournament by keeping or bettering their No. 6 regional ranking.

“We do not need to be in the loser’s bracket right away,” said Thomas. “Yes, we want to win the championship, but realistically we’re also fighting for that high spot in the region.”

Source: Rome News

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