Softball All-GSC, Major Awards Announced
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Gulf South Conference announced its 2022 all-conference teams and individual honors, as voted on by the league's head coaches.
Valdosta State's Samantha Richards earned GSC Pitcher of the Year honors, West Florida's Teala Howard was named Player of the Year, Lee's Javaria Smith was voted Freshman of the Year, and Auburn Montgomery's Eric Newell was recognized as Coach of the Year.
Richards earned the league's top pitching honors for the second-straight season, becoming just the third player since 2005 to win it in back-to-back fashion. The Blazers' hurler finished the regular season as the GSC leader in earned run average (1.37), innings pitched (188.2), strikeouts (263), wins (24) and second-overall in opponent batting average (.186). Richards also joined the conference's strikeout career leaders where she currently sits ninth-overall (563).
Howard was named the GSC's top player, marking her second major individual conference award since being named Freshman of the Year in 2019. The senior infielder was league leader in stolen bases (31), while also being listed third in batting average (.425) and hits (68), fourth in doubles (5), fifth in runs scored (42), and 10th in on-base percentage (.459). Howard is the fourth different Argo to win the award since 1997.
With the announcement, Smith became the Lady Flame in program-history to haul in top freshman honors. The Lee rookie, who was also named Second Team All-GSC, finished her first season ranked eighth among conference leaders with 52 hits while registering 146 at-bats.
Newell earned his first Coach of the Year honor after leading the Warhawks to a second-consecutive regular-season title. AUM finished the season with a 38-8 record, including a 25-5 mark in GSC action, and secured the No. 1-seed in the GSC Softball Championship.
2022 All-GSC Teams
Player of the Year – Teala Howard, West Florida
Pitcher of the Year – Samantha Richards, Valdosta State
Freshman of the Year – Javaria Smith, Lee
Coach of the Year – Eric Newell, Auburn Montgomery
First Team All-GSC
P – Samantha Richards, Valdosta State*
P – Alanna Goble, Auburn Montgomery*
P – Megan Shurtz, Alabama Huntsville
C – Sidney Lee, Lee
1B – Kiara Akles, Alabama Huntsville***
2B – Gia Martin, Auburn Montgomery*
SS – Nikki Pennington, Valdosta State*
3B – Teala Howard, West Florida*
OF – Shelby Booker, Alabama Huntsville*^
OF – Kaylee Vaught, Alabama Huntsville
OF – Cassie Matlock, West Alabama^
DP/UT – Kat Fallen, Auburn Montgomery
At-Large – Sierra Easterwood, Montevallo
At-Large – Taylor De Adder, Lee^
At-Large – Kelsey Sweatt, West Florida^*
Second Team All-GSC
P – Montana Young, West Florida
P – Layton Murphy, Alabama Huntsville^
P – Avery Dickerson, Auburn Montgomery
P – Nyah Vogel, Lee
C – Erin Moon, West Florida
1B – R.J. Janke, West Georgia
2B – Kristyn Nix, West Georgia^
SS – Hannah Carey, Montevallo
3B – Breanna Patton, Lee
OF – Javaria Smith, Lee
OF – Haley Ann Frank, Auburn Montgomery
OF – Alisha Lanyon, Montevallo
DP/UT – Madelyn Vasquez, West Florida
* - Previous First Team All-GSC selection
^ - Previous Second Team All-GSC selection
A tie in voting resulted in an additional selection to the Second Team, ties are not broken.