Adam MacDonald
The Valdosta Daily Times
VALDOSTA —
The Gulf South Conference released the All-Decade team for its spring sports on Thursday, and 25 athletes from Valdosta State have been recognized in the sports of baseball, softball, golf and men’s and women’s tennis.
Fourteen former Blazers and Lady Blazers were named first-team All-Decade while eight were named to the second team and three more were honorable mentions.
In baseball, Brandon Decker was a unanimous pick for the first team. The slugging outfielder played just two seasons at VSU, but he totaled 43 home runs and was a two-time All-American.
Brent Witcher was named to the first team for golf after being named the 2009 Division II golfer of the year.
Four Lady Blazers softball players were named first-team All-Decade: first baseman Robin Williams (2005-08), shortstop Alex Acosta (2007-08), catcher Alyssa Shirey (2009-10) and pitcher Lindsey Ellingsworth (2001-02).
Williams finished her career second on the all-time GSC home runs list. She was an All-American in 2008 and a three-time All-GSC East selection. Acosta and Shirey were two-time All-Americans, and Ellingsworth was an All-American in 2002.
The men’s and women’s tennis teams each had four players selected first-team All-Decade.
On the men’s side, Christoph Schneider (2003-06) and Leos Jelinek (2006-09) were named to the GSC first team all four years they played for the Blazer tennis team. Joerg Ekkenga (2007-09) was a three-time All-American and Eduardo Rincon (2004-05) was a two-time All-American.
For the Lady Blazers, Annika Biro (2003-06) made the All-Decade team by being a four-time All-GSC selection. She was joined by Eva Petschnig (2003-05), a three-time All-American, and Dominique Roethlander (2007-10) and Anne Corten (2005-07), who were both two-time All-Americans.
Four Lady Blazer softball players were named to the All-Decade second team: second baseman Kristina Ely (2007-08), shortstop Marti Littlefield (2009-present), designated player Ryann Ellingsworth (2002-03) and pitcher Brianna Collis (2006-09).
Littlefield is the only active VSU athlete to be named to the All-Decade team in any sport.
Four VSU baseball players were named to the second team: shortstop Robert Morgan (2004-05), outfielder John McDonald (2004-05), starting pitcher Adam Lingenfelter (2003-04) and closer Justin Lamb (2006-08).
Designated hitter Matt Costello (2009), starting pitcher Jason Bulger (1998-01) and coach Tommy Thomas (2001-07) were honorable mentions.
VSU did not win any of the spring sports awards for GSC player or coach of the decade, but the men’s tennis won the distinction of being the team of the decade.
West Alabama swept the major awards in the GSC East for baseball. Tigers’ third baseman Rob Dahlberg (2006-09) was named the GSC East player of the Decade, Tigers’ pitcher Brandon Dill (2005-08) was named the GSC East pitcher of the decade and Tigers’ coach Gary Rundles (2001-present) was picked as the GSC East coach of the decade.
Southern Arkansas was picked as the team of the decade in baseball. Delta State was second and VSU was third.
Alabama-Huntsville swept all the major awards in softball. The Lady Chargers had the GSC East player of the decade in catcher Stephanie Pinto (2004-07), the pitcher of the decade in Sage Woodham (2006-09) and the coach of the decade in Les Stuedeman. UAH won the team of the decade honors while VSU finished second.
North Alabama’s Brett Munson beat out Witcher as the GSC’s golfer of the decade. Munson was tabbed as the Division II golfer of the year in 2010. VSU finished fourth in team of the decade voting for golf.
While VSU’s men’s tennis team won the honor of team of the decade, West Florida swept the individual accolades. UWF’s Radovan Chrz was picked as the GSC East player of the decade and Derrick Racine was named the GSC East coach of the decade.
UWF’s women’s tennis team finished first in the team voting just ahead of VSU. Racine won the women’s coach of the decade honor and UWF’s Suzana Cavalcante was picked as the GSC East women’s player of the decade.
