By Staff
Danville's Wilson, Roberts and James sweep top honors
Charles Prince, Hartselle Enquirer
Some times two players have such outstanding seasons it's hard to choose which one had the better year. That was the case this year on the softball diamond in Morgan County, as a tie occurred in the coaches voting in the voting for the Hartselle Enquirer's Softball Player of the Year voting. However, it just wasn't hard to determine which player had the best season on the field, it was hard to determine which coach did the best job in our area this season. In both cases a tie in the voting has created Co-Players of the Year and Co-Coaches of the Year.
Co-Coaches of the Year
During the 2005 season, both Holly Waters of Priceville and Holly Little of Danville did outstanding jobs of guiding their teams to postseason berths.
Waters saw her Lady Bulldogs win their first area championship in the school's short history. Priceville would reach the first round of the sub-state playoffs and top the 30-win plateau.
Little, who took over this season as the Lady Hawks head coach, led Danville to the second round of the sub-state playoffs.
The other three area coaches also did fine jobs, as Kendra Bradford took the Brewer Lady Patriots to the first round of the sub-state playoffs, as did Shane Alexander with a young Hartselle Lady Tiger squad.
Tanya Sparkman of Falkville, who left Danville after last season to take over the Lady Blue Devil program, took the county's youngest team and keep them afloat after the team's top pitcher from 2004 gave up the sport.
Co-Players of the Year
Danville senior Kristy Roberts added two more marks this season, to her already impressive resume in the state and national record books.
She extended her national record of consecutive successful stolen base attempts to 151 and she set the career stolen base standard with 246 thefts. This season, Roberts batted .505 with six doubles and three triples.
Roberts junior teammate Charleston Wilson, split time at catcher and in the infield as her bat helped to power the Lady Hawks offense.
Wilson posted a .508 batting average this season, in addition to collecting 10 doubles, six triples, diving in 30 runs an stealing 30 bases. Her most impressive stat, however, is her strikeout total for the season. Wilson fanned only three times in 177 at-bats.
Pitcher of the Year
Danville senior Katie James won 20 games this season on the mound for the Lady Hawks. Two of those wins came in the postseason as she won both games for Danville in the first round of the sub-state playoffs.
James had a outstanding strikeout-to-hits ratio, as she struck out 296 batters and yielded only 128 hits.
All-Area first team
Priceville sophomore Casey Chandler won 25 games and helped the Lady Bulldogs to the 2A, Area 14 title.
Chandler struck out 119 batters in 196 innings and fired her first career no-hitter this season.
Hartselle sophomore Mary Curtis led the Lady Tiger staff in wins and complied an impressive 1.86 ERA against a brutal schedule which included some of the top teams in the state in both Class 5A and 6A.
Danville's Bethany Evans played four different positions this season and earned the utility player's spot. Evens played in the outfield, at shortstop and at catcher this year, while hitting .390 with five doubles, one triple and stealing 14 bases.
Hartselle junior Shanice Johnson provided the Hartselle lineup with power as she connected for four homers, 14 doubles, drove in 28 runs, scored 27 times and finished the season with a .329 batting average.
Her efforts earned her the designated player's spot on our team.
Hartselle's Kayla Orr swung the hottest bat for the Lady Tigers this season and earned one of the team's infield spots. She hit .371 and smashed five homers, had five doubles, two triples, 32 RBIs and scored 20 during her sophomore season. She earned the first base spot on the team.
Priceville's Jessica Kennedy played solid in the infield this season for the Lady Bulldogs.
She hit an impressive .380 with 14 doubles, five triples and drove in a team-high 44 RBIs in 58 games.
Priceville's Caitlin Williams batted .356 with 13 doubles, five triples and three homers, but her coach thinks she's even a better defensive player at her shortstop position than she is a hitter.
Falkville's Katrina Wildmon earned the catcher's spot on the team with a solid defensive season, while hitting .333 and scoring 25 runs in only 29 games played.
Brewer senior Mandy Martin, who was also a member of the Enquirer's All-Area volleyball team, batted .359 with eight doubles, stole 19 bases and scored 30 runs.
Priceville junior Sara Parker had her season cut short by a broken ankle in the 2A, Area 14 tournament, but it didn't prevent her from earning a outfield spot on our team.
Parker batted .366 with eight doubles, three triples and one homer.
She scored 45 runs in 46 games played and drove in 36 runs, while striking out only seven times in 157 at-bats.