May 14 Suwannee softball held its annual awards banquet. Suwannee softball had a great season with 18 wins and 10 losses. The team was the district runner-up and made it to the Sweet 16, regional semi finals. Suwannee softball had a lot to celebrate and be thankful for this year.

The JV awards were given out first by JV coach Frank Johnson.

All JV players in attendance were first given their JV certificates. Then the academic awards were given. Above 3.5 GPA’s were awarded first. Cara Monroe, Debra Craig, Rebecca Roberts and Brittany Proulx had GPA’s above 3.5. Chelsea Davis and Mary Badgerow were the scholar athletes for the JV softball team with a 4.0 GPA.

The SHS JV Most Improved Award was given to Rebecca Roberts.

The SHS JV Offensive Award was given to Mary Badgerow.

The SHS JV Defensive Award was given to Chelsea Davis.

The SHS JV Coach’s Award went to Brittany Jordan.

The SHS JV Most Valuable Player for 2005 was Jessica Johnson.

When the JV awards were complete it was time for the varsity. Certificates were presented to all players. First year varsity players were freshman Chelsea Davis, freshman Mary Badgerow and freshman Jessica Johnson. These three players were invited to play with the varsity team after the JV season was over. They were able to attend practices and the end of the season games, districts, and regional semi finals.

The remaining 10 players were on varsity the whole season. First year players were freshman Kalie Baldwin playing second base, freshman Deanne Wainwright playing left field and freshman Cortney Ross playing first base.

The only second year varsity player was sophomore Al Cash playing third base.

Third year players were junior Lea Schenck playing second base at first base and pitcher and senior Katie Smith playing second, first and pitching.

Fourth year senior George Foster played center or right field and caught. Fourth year senior Jenna Jordan played center or right field. Fourth year senior Kate Townsend played shortstop. Fourth year senior Stephanie Starling caught and played the outfield.

Receiving Academic awards for the varsity were George Foster with a 3.55 GPA, Lea Schenck with a 3.76 GPA, Deanne Wainwright with a 3.83 GPA, Jenna Jordan with a 3.86 GPA, Stephanie Starling with a 3.86 GPA and Cortney Ross with a 4.0 GPA.

Most Improved Hitting Award went to Jenna Jordan, who increased her hitting from a 200 batting average in 2004 to 350 batting average in 2005.

Stephanie Starling increased her hitting from 218 in 2004 to 302 in 2005.

Most improved Defensive Player went to Jenna Jordan. Jordan played her best year in the outfield this year, her senior year. She had 11 put outs, five assists and made no errors. She made some key catches in the outfield which saved runs from being scored.

Suwannee softball posts a sign on the softball field fence to inspire the players to become better hitters and to celebrate those girls who are able to finish each season with a batting average over 300 percent. This years “300” Club includes Al Cash with a batting average of .382, Lea Schenck with .355, Jenna Jordan with .350 and Stephanie Starling with a .302.

The Home Run Club had three members this year. Katie Smith had two home runs, Al Cash with one homerun, and Kate Townsend with one home run. There is also a sign that hangs at the softball field on the fence displaying the girls who hit home runs each year.

The Offensive Player of the Year award went to Al Cash with the best batting average. Cash had a .382, one home run, seven triples, two doubles and 16 singles.

Rookie Award of the year is new for 2005. Cortney Ross played first base as a freshman on the varsity team. She came to practices early and worked hard at improving her game. She had 115 put outs, 13 assists and had a fielding percent of 941, which was the third best on the team.

The Coach’s Award for 2005 went to junior Lea Schenck. She worked hard at every practice. She would ask Coach Jeff to hit more ground balls to her even when practice was over so she could make sure she was on top of her game. She cared about her performance, plus she wanted to help Suwannee to be a winning team.

After the awards were given, five seniors were recognized. Graduating in 2005 were senior softball players Katie Smith, George Foster, Jenna Jordan, Stephanie Starling and Kate Townsend.

The team’s batting average for 2005 was .292, it has increased each year for the past three years. In 2003 it was only .209, and in 2004 it went up to .264. The increase in hitting has given Suwannee the chance to have a winning season.

Along with the hitting Suwannee has had the pitching. The team will greatly miss senior Katie Smith who has pitched for Suwannee the past three years. This was her best year with an ERA of 1.79, and 115 strike outs, and a record of nine wins and four losses. “Our team will miss having her on the mound and on the field,” said assistant coach Jan Schenck.

Fortunately, Lea Schenck has one more year pitching for Suwannee. This year, Lea’s ERA was .68, she had 102 strike outs and a record of nine wins and six losses.

“Next year it looks like we may have a young team, but we will have the talent to have a winning team,” Schenck said.