Local players help win championship
Published 4:17 pm Thursday, June 16, 2011
PANHANDLE HEAT 14-year-old Travel Softball Team members gather around the championship trophy that they won at the United States Fastpitch Association (USFA) Slip Into Summer Tournament. From the left, front, are Lindsey Eubanks, Hannah Calhoun, Jenna Rae Sellers, Mallory McDaniel and Brooke Williams; back, Micah Williams, Lindsey Griner of Bainbridge, Jensen Strickland, Maegan Harrison of Bainbridge, Caitlyn Carpenter, Laura Griner of Bainbridge and coach Jeff Travers. Coach Fred Lanphere is not pictured.
The Panhandle Heat 14-year-old and under softball team won first place in the U.S. Fastpitch Association (USFA) Slide Into Summer Tournament held June 11 and 12 in Marianna, Fla.
Team members were from Bainbridge and Tallahassee, Sneads and Bonifay, Fla.
They defeated Coastal Surge 6-1 in the championship game.
Bainbridge’s Maegan Harrison, Lindsey Griner and Laura Griner were major contributors during the championship run.
Harrison led a strong pitching staff that also included Jenna Raye Sellers and Jensen Strickland.
Harrison and Lindsey Griner earned Gold Glover honors for their outstanding defensive play in the tournament.
Top offensive performers for the Panhandle Heat were Hannah Calhoun, Lindsey Eubanks and Micah Williams, who all batted .500; Jensen Strickland, who batted .461; Brooke Williams,, who bated .454, and Mallory McDaniel, who batted .416.
The team has been playing hard in memory and honor of Alexis Patty, one of their former players who passed away in an automobile accident a few months ago. They wear an armband that contained her No. 14.
In July, the team will be competing in the USFA World Series in Panama City Beach, Fla.