corey.davis@gaflnews.com

Several months after putting away their gloves and bats for the season, Suwannee and Branford and Melody Christian are finally getting back to work.

Recently softball and baseball officially started practicing at area schools, the first day teams could come together and begin their quest to getting to state.  

Suwannee, which finished 16-10 last season, returns nearly everyone from last season including pitcher senior Marshanna Boyette and senior centerfielder Jamie Summers.

Boyette, who was 8-4 last season with a 2.76 ERA, will sign with Seminole State College (formerly Seminole Community College). Summers, who batted .357 and led the team in RBIs with 23, signed Jan. 21 with Central Florida College (formerly Central Florida Community College).

Branford finished 6-13 last season, an improvement from the previous season and returns eight of nine starters including senior shortstop Haley Stebbins, junior pitcher Ona Briggs, junior first baseman Jenna Deas, junior second baseman Leanne Deas, sophomore left field Haley Vick, senior center fielder Paige Baumgart, senior third baseman Kaylin Thomas and senior right fielder Tricia Mathews.

Suwannee will participate in the Columbia First Pitch Classic Feb. 5 in Lake City. The Lady Bulldogs will play Columbia at 11 a.m. and Trinity Christian at 3 p.m. Other games include: Lafayette vs. Trinity at 1 p.m. and Lafayette vs. Columbia at 5 p.m.

Branford will not participate in a pre-season classic due to having too many players participating in basketball, and will kick off its season Feb. 8 at Melody Christian.

Suwannee head baseball coach Ronnie Grey is having to replace seven seniors off a 20-10 second round playoff team, including the majority of his pitching staff with the loss of Greg Bowers (.321 average, 21 RBIs, 5 doubles, 3 home runs and 7-4 on the mound with 3.68 ERA, 45 strikeouts and 19 walks) and Matt Moses.  

Moses ,the 2010 Suwannee Democrat Player of the Year, not only delivered on the mound but at the plate to help lead the Bulldogs to their first district title in years and a second round playoff appearance. The Chipola Community College signee batted .375 with 16 RBI’s, was 9 of 10 in stolen bases and 6-1 on the mound with a 1.26 ERA with 96 strikeouts and 25 walks.

Returning for the Bulldogs are seniors Matt Pennington (.377, 17 RBIs, 5 doubles, 1-1 on the mound with 2.21 ERA, 20 strikeouts and 11 walks), Stuart Brown, Jackson Brown (.253, 10 RBIs, 11 of 11 stolen bases), Jason Bullock, Greg Swinson, Trevor Lister, first team All-Area senior outfielder Ryan Dasilva (.403, 23 RBIs, 8 doubles) and Blake Swann (.297, 20 RBIs, 6 doubles, 3 HRs).    

Branford head coach Vernon Wiggins returns 11 of 13 players from last season’s 12-11 team, losing first-team All-Area outfielder Kevin VanAsch (.377 average, 20 RBIs, 4 doubles, 3 HRs) and honorable mention utility player Mason Tyler.

Returning for the Bucs are senior infielder Sam Arnold (.394 average, 7 RBIs, 7 doubles), senior utility player Danny Johnston (.400, 8 RBIs, 5 doubles, 3-0 on the mound with 2.13 ERA, 16 strikeouts and 10 walks) and honorable mention players sophomore Jordan Gaylard, junior Dalton Lamb, sophomore Kyle Stebbins and senior utility player Josh Hansen.         

Wiggins and Grey will get good looks at their teams when Suwannee hosts the pre-season classic Feb. 7-12 at Booster Field.

Branford will play two games in the classic, opening with Columbia Monday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. and closing with Holmes County Friday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. Suwannee plays Madison County Tuesday Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. and Columbia Tuesday Feb. 10 at 7 p.m.

Melody Christian (12-12) returns the nucleus of its team and should be a lock for the runner-up spot in their district with Arlington Country Day out of the way.             

Returning for head coach Harvey Williams is first team All-Area sophomore utility player Derek Johnson (.290 average, 1000 fielding percentage, 28 stolen bases, 3-0 on the mound) along with junior AJ Smith (.338 average, 22 RBIs, 3 HRs). Joining them is senior infielder Jon Patak, sophomore infielder Josh Lessman, senior infielder Preston Norris and senior utility player Cole Whorton.  

Melody Christian is participating in the Fort White Pre-Season classic and will play PK Yonge Tuesday Feb. 8 at 4 p.m., followed at 7 p.m. with Fort White taking on Union County. The Wildcats will finish the classic with a 4 p.m. game against Union County, followed by Fort White playing PK Yonge at 7 p.m.

Hamilton County is hosting the Fourth Annual Fred Mickler Pre-Season classic Feb. 8-10 at Fred Mickler field. Lafayette takes on Franklin County at 4:30 p.m. in the opener on Feb. 8 and Aucilla Christian Feb. 10 at 4:30 p.m., while Hamilton County hosts Aucilla Christian Feb. 8 and Franklin County Feb. 10, both at 7 p.m.