By Staff
Nine local players, seven softball, two baseball named All-State
Charles Prince, Hartselle Enquirer
Nine players-the amount needed to field a baseball or a softball team. The southern section of Morgan County can lay claim to their own All-State team as nine local players were honored by the Alabama Sports Writers Association.
Seven softball players, Amanda Holmes and Ashlie Mayer of Falkville, Katie James and Kristy Roberts of Danville, in addition to J.J. Lawrimore, Sabrina Roberts and Sarah Whitlow of Hartselle were named All-State. On the baseball side, Zack Andrews of Hartselle and Ross Summerford of Falkville were chosen as members of the All-Star team.
The .387 and 26 twins
Aaron James coached one of the best hitting teams in the area during the 2004 season as six Falkville Lady Blue Devil starters batted over .300. Two of those starters hit an identical .387, both were named to the class 2A All-State softball team. The similarities extended to the base paths as senior Holmes and sophomore Mayer both stole 26 bases. Holmes scored 22 runs in 27 games while Mayer scored 18 times.
Danville's dynamic duo
The Danville Lady Hawks reached the state softball tournament for the first time since changing to the fast-pitch game. Two of the Lady Hawks who led the way are junior Roberts and sophomore James who both were named to the class 3A team. Roberts led the Lady Hawks in batting average, runs scored and steals. For Roberts it was the second straight season being honored as All-State.
James won 21 games including the opening game of the state tournament. Other highlights of her year included winning the deciding game of the sub-state round of the playoffs by throwing a shutout. James recorded 216 strikeouts in 186 innings this season.
Lady Tigers times three
The Hartselle Lady Tigers failed in their bid for a third straight state championship. Falling in the second round of the state playoffs did not prevent the sports writers in the state from honoring three Lady Tigers on the 5A team.
Senior Roberts broke the career record for wins by a Hartselle pitcher this season ending with 61 wins in four years. In 2004, she posted a 16-8 record, five of those losses were 1-0 shutouts when Roberts failed to receive any run support.
Senior Lawrimore hit .382 as a third baseman and posted a 10-5 record on the mound this season.
Lawrimore drove in 25 runs and scored 22 while her ERA on the mound was 1.76.
The third Lady Tiger named to the All-State team was Whitlow, a junior playing center field, who hit .320.
Whitlow's excelled on defense as she threw out eight base runners, including three at first base, and committed only one error all season.
Big game pitcher
Hartselle senior Andrews posted a 14-4 record this season including four-straight playoff wins and earned a spot on the class 5A baseball team. His last 12 innings of work in the post season were shutout innings.
Andrews' earned run average was 1.27 allowing only 21 earned runs all season. Andrews struck out 124 batters and walked only 22 in 116 innings of work. In addition to starting, he picked up two saves in relief.
Blue Devils' big hitter
Senior Summerford helped the Falkville Blue Devils reach the second round of the state playoffs. For his efforts, Summerford was named to class 2A team. Summerford collected a .416 average this past season. At the plate, Summerford connected for seven doubles, one triple and four home runs.
His on base percentage was .531. Summerford also excelled on defense making catches that saved runs from scoring in both of Falkville's state playoff games.