2012-13 Peach Belt Conference Yearbook | Page 36

Eilte 15 Award Bridget Devlin, Armstrong

Honorable Mention: Natalie Bellantoni, Georgia College; Celia Blome, Armstrong; Kristen Carr, Columbus State; Brittany Cooley, Armstrong; Casey Googe, Columbus State; Katie Garrett, North Georgia; Kristen Humphries, Georgia College; Ashley Schwab, Armstrong; Paige Sexton, Young Harris; Jen Spradling, Young Harris; Bethany Wilke, Young Harris

batters while allowing just one free pass.

For the tournament, Russell worked 21 innings allowing one run on 13 hits. She registered 17 strikeouts and walked only three batters. For her efforts, she was named the tournament Most Valuable Player for the second straight year.

In two PBC Tournament appearances, Russell has been untouchable as she’ s allowed three runs( one earned) over 42 innings of work on just 21 hits. The Decatur, AL native has held opponents to just a. 143( 21-for- 146) batting average against in both tournaments.

and a community willing and able to host such a prestigious event. The commissioners found both in Columbus, Ga.

The city had hosted the 1996 Olympic softball tournament and the South Commons Complex features a 1,500-seat stadium field along with seven other playing fields. It is also home to PBC member school Columbus State University and the Columbus Sports Council, which had worked with the Peach Belt many times in the past on baseball, softball and basketball league championship tournaments.

ESPN’ s Michele Smith speaks at the opening night banquet. With the venue selected and teams lining up to play, it was time to go the extra mile to make the Challenge an event worth remembering. Working with corporate partner Musco Lighting, organizers were able to bring in two-time Olympic gold medalist and ESPN softball analyst Michele Smith to speak to the players at a pre-tournament banquet and host a free clinic for youth in the Columbus area.

Smith won the first of her two gold medals at the 1996 games in Columbus and enthralled the 250 student-athletes in attendance with her inspiring message of perseverance overcoming all obstacles. She then graciously posed for photographs with any and all of the players for nearly an hour afterwards.

Saturday morning dawned cold and gray, but that did not stop nearly 150 girls ages 6-12 to come out to the clinic. With the assistance of student-athletes from Columbus State and Saint Leo, Smith conducted the clinic for over an hour. The participants and their families were also invited to take in all the games that day for free.

With the clinic over, it was time to get down to business. Armstrong Atlantic State, Columbus State, North Georgia and UNC Pembroke played on the Peach Belt side while

Over 150 girls ages 6-12 participated in the free Saturday clinic. Florida Southern, Florida Tech, Lynn and Saint Leo took the field for the Sunshine State. Eight games were played on both Saturday and Sunday that more than lived up to the billing with three contests going to extra innings and another five games decided by only one run. In the end it was the Peach Belt who came out on top with wins in 12 of the 16 contests and the PBC will hold the Challenge Cup in their conference offices for the next year.

With the first Challenge an unqualified success, the groundwork has been laid to make it an annual event.

Peach Belt & Sunshine State Host first PBC-SSC Challenge

COLUMBUS, GA – An event involving eight softball teams, over 150 children, countless volunteers and one Olympic gold medalist was the backdrop for a magical start to the 2013 NCAA Division II softball season. The PBC-SSC Softball Challenge was not just another early-season, non-conference softball tournament; it was a showcase for some of the best players and teams in two of the best conferences in the nation to come together to celebrate their sport.

The Challenge was born of a conversation between two commissioners as the Peach Belt’ s David Brunk and the Sunshine State’ s Jay Jones designed the basic framework more than a year ago. The key was finding a venue that was more than the average four-field cloverleaf