VALDOSTA —
Lowndes softball players Ashley Chapman and Maiah Talmage have been chosen to play in the GACA All-Star Softball Showcase in June.
The GACA All-Star Softball Showcase is an annual softball game between top senior players from South Georgia and North Georgia. The game will be played on June 13 at Alto Park in Rome, Ga.
“I was excited that they both made the team,” said Lowndes head coach Alex Gray, who is also the head coach of the South team. “To be picked is a nice feather in their caps.”
Chapman has been Lowndes’ top pitcher for the last four years. In 2011, she went 16-9 with a 1.70 earned run average and 184 strikeouts. She also batted .310 with nine doubles and 13 runs batted in. Chapman was chosen the Region 1-AAAAA Player of the Year for the second consecutive year. She was also a second team All-State selection.
She said it was a pretty big honor to get to play in the All-Star Softball Showcase.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Chapman said.
Talmage was Lowndes’ cleanup hitter and center fielder. She batted .398, second on the team, with eight doubles, three triples, 14 RBIs, a .446 on-base percentage and a .548 slugging percentage, while covering a lot of ground in center field. She was a first-team All-Region selection and was named honorable mention All-State.
“I’m really proud (to make the South All-Star team),” Talmage said. “My senior year, I worked really hard to get to where I am.”
Chapman and Talmage helped Lowndes go 19-12 this year. The Vikettes won the region championship for the second year in a row and made it to the second round of the Class AAAAA state playoffs.
Gray will coach Chapman and Talmage on the South All-Star team. He has a record of 67-32 in three seasons as Lowndes’ head coach, and has coached the Vikettes to two region titles. His 2010 team made it to the Elite Eight in Columbus.
“I’m honored that they chose me to do it, and I’m looking forward to going up there and having that experience (of coaching) the best players in (South Georgia),” Gray said. “For me, the fun part is it’s one last chance to coach a couple of my seniors.”
Players were nominated for the South and North All-Star teams by the region championship-winning coaches from their regions. Players from regions 1-4 in each classification were eligible for the South team, while the North team has players from regions 5-8. Chapman and Talmage are the only two players from Region 1-AAAAA on the South team.
Chapman has signed a scholarship to Santa Fe College, a junior college in Gainesville, Fla., while Talmage has signed with Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton.
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Lowndes’ Chapman, Talmage named to all-star team
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