Lady Blazers softball falls in National Championship, 4-3
Error filled fifth dooms VSU

By Ed Hooper

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Valdosta State Lady Blazers came up just short in the NCAA Division II National Championship game as they fell to the Hawaii-Pacific Lady Sea Warriors, 4-3, on Monday afternoon.

Despite taking an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning thanks to an Alyssa Shirey two run double, Valdosta State could not hold off Hawaii-Pacific (50-8) as the Lady Sea Warriors used an error filled fifth inning by VSU (50-9) to rack up four runs on six hits and take the lead from Valdosta State.

With one out and a runner on first for Hawaii-Pacific in the top of the fifth inning, It was an error by VSU second baseman April Hutchens which gave the momentum to HPU on the very next at bat as the Lady Sea Warriors sprouted for five more hits in the inning and all four runs which forced VSU starting pitcher Holly Satterfield to the dugout after four and a third innings pitched.

VSU quickly rebounded in the bottom half of the inning as Amber Shaw, who started the inning off with a single to break her 0-13 draught at the national tournament, scored on an Alyssa Shirey foul ball out, although Shaw originally forgot to tag up at third base. With the run, VSU cut the HPU lead to just one run, 4-3.

With VSU relief pitcher Margaret Carter, who replaced Holly Satterfield in the middle of the fifth inning, recording six straight outs through the six and seventh innings, VSU sent Marti Littlefield, Alyssa Shirey and Stephanie Carlson to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning, down one run.

After a line out to second base by Littlefield to start the inning, Shirey and Carlson then recorded one out singles to give Valdosta State runners at first and second with just one out. After taking a pitch off the knee but not being allowed to take her base because the home plate umpire ruled she did not move out of the way, Colette Rollins took a much needed VSU walk to fill the bases for the Lady Blazers.

With the bases loaded and still one out, VSU sent pitch hitter and Lowndes high school native Amy Brightwell to the plate. It was nearly game over for the Lady Blazers as Brightwell lined out to third base, which nearly turned into a double play as pitch runner Ashley Steinhilber slide just under the tag.

Down to their final out in the national championship game, VSU sent sophomore April Hutchens to the plate. Hutchens ended the game with the bases loaded when she flew out to center field.

The win for HPU is their first ever national championship and marks the second VSU spring sport to fall in a 2010 national championship round, as the VSU men’s tennis team fell earlier this month.

VSU pitchers Holly Satterfield and Margaret Carter, who both entered the day with ERA’s under 1.45, allowed four Lady Sea Warrior runs on seven hits while VSU committed two errors. Satterfield and Carter also racked up seven strikeouts, four of which were recorded by Satterfield. Carter took the loss in the game as her record fell to 24-6 on the season.

VSU will return all players to the 2011 squad except for All-American catcher Alyssa Shirey, who led the team with 20 homeruns, and infielder Stephanie Carlson.

Softball advances to National Championship
Lady Blazers take down Angelo State 3-2

By Ed Hooper

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Valdosta State Lady Blazers are moving on to their first ever national championship after a walk-off homerun by Morgan Johnson on Sunday afternoon to take down the Angelo State Rams, 3-2.

VSU (50-8) quickly found themselves with a 1-0 lead after Amber Shaw scored on an Alyssa Shirey RBI single in the bottom of the first inning.

After three and a half innings of shut out softball, VSU added another run to their lead as Melessa Jackson scored on an RBI double by VSU slugger Marti Littelfield.

With just six outs away from being sent home from the Division II Softball Championship, the Angelo State Rams (50-15) scattered for two runs in the top of the sixth inning to knot the game even at 2-2.

After a scoreless bottom of the sixth inning and top of the seventh inning, VSU sent freshman Morgan Johnson to the plate. Johnson ended the game on one swing of the bat as she ended the game with a game winning, walk-off homerun to send Valdosta State to the Division II National Championship tournament.

The Lady Blazers will play either Hawaii-Pacific or Metro State on Monday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. eastern time. The game can be heard at talk921.com or Talk 92.1 F.M in Valdostam while CBS College Sports will carry the game on national television.

Read about the game online at VSUspectator.com.

VSU knocks off No. 1 N. GA, 6-1
Saints loss for first time all season

By Staff Reports

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Valdosta State received an excellent day of pitching from starter Holly Satterfield to beat undefeated North Georgia, the top team in the country, 6-1. The Saints drop to 51-1 on the season while their All-American pitcher Sarah Phillips drops to 44-1. The Lady Blazers move to 50-8 with five earned runs against Phillips who has an 0.83 earned run average for the season.

“Wow. I am trying not to get emotional. I get that way about these girls. My team played unbelievable,” VSU head coach Thomas Macera said. “My young ladies just beat them (North Georgia) 6-1 and I can’t tell you how excited I am for these girls to put this up at a national tournament.”

Satterfield only gave up one hit through the first five innings and three hits all day. She finished with eight strikeouts and no earned runs allowed. Meanwhile, the Lady Blazers blew up Phillips for eight hits, four coming in the big four-run inning in the third for VSU.

“I knew I would have to throw as best I could. My A game today,” Satterfield said. “I remembered which hitter was good and whose not. I just knew I had to hit my corners and throw the ball hard. My drop ball worked best all day.”

Senior Stephanie Carlson continues to rack up runs batted in at the national tournament with two RBIs for the second consecutive game. She was one for three on the day. Alyssa Shirey also had a repeat performance in Valdosta State’s second game, staying perfect for the tournament. Yet to be retired at the national tournament, Shirey was a perfect two for two with a run scored and two walks, one of which was intentional.

Colette Rollins also registered two hits on the day with a two for three performance with an RBI. Marti Littlefield and Sarah Vaughn also registered RBIs in the victory.

North Georgia scored its only run, unearned, in the first inning. Laura Voyles, the leadoff hitter walked and went to second on a bunt from Lauren Dykes. Then she reached third on an error and scored on a double steal. After that, Satterfield and the VSU defense shut the Saints down.

The second and third innings were either strike outs from Satterfield or throw outs from Littlefield to Rollins. Then, in the fourth, after another Satterfield strike out, Littlefield showed her wheels when she took off from her shortstop position to catch a foul pop up along the shallow left field fence. Then April Hutchens got in on the action.

She notched the third out of the fourth inning with a throw to Rollins at first. Then she showed off quick reaction speed with a jumping catch for the first out of the fifth inning. The first out of the sixth inning was another play by Hutchens. She showed everyone at the national tournament that Valdosta State’s middle infield is a force to be reckoned with as she made an excellent diving catch on a foul ball that was a mirror image of Littlefield’s play two innings earlier.

Valdosta State showed off excellent hitting to go with shutdown defense. After giving up a run in the first inning, VSU answered in the top of the second when Ariel Shaw, running for Shirey, scored after Shirey’s single to left field. Carlson sacrificed Shaw to second and Vaughn drove her in with a single to center field. Then VSU showed the kind of offense the team used to get to the final eight in the third inning.

Melessa Jackson led off with a single to left field and went to second on a sacrifice from Morgan Johnson. Littlefield hit a line drive up the middle to score Jackson and advanced to second on the throw. After that, the Saints made a decision that would bite them.

Phillips intentionally walked Shirey to put runners on first and second for Carlson. She doubled to deep right center to score both runners. Then Carlson scored on a single from Rollins to give VSU a 5-1 advantage just two and a half innings into the game.

The Lady Blazers would score one more run in the sixth inning. Rollins singled to left field and reached second on an error by the outfielder. Amy Brightwell came in as a pinch runner and scored on an error by the first baseman who muffed the catch on a Vaughn sacrifice.

With the win, Valdosta State will be able to rest Saturday. The Lady Blazers will next be in action at 1 p.m. Sunday against an opponent still to be determined.

“I can honestly tell you I don’t think they are smart enough to understand what we are up against,” Macera said when asked if his young team can handle the pressure. “I don’t mean that in an ugly matter, but they don’t know pressure. We have come from begind in more games than we have won ahead.”

“I don’t think there were big expectations put on this team last year or this year and we just keep prodding along and they just keep finding ways to win. I have never seen this team play tense.”

For the radio broadcast, fans can listen at Talk 92.1 FM, or go online at www.talk921.com. There will be live stats here and the NCAA will also be webcasting games throughout the tournament here. CBS College Sports will broadcast the championship game on television.

VSU inks 7-5 win; to face North Georgia Friday

By Ed Hooper, The Spectator

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Valdosta State Lady Blazers took another step toward their first ever national
championship as they knocked off highly tauted Bloomsburg University, 7-5, on Thursday afternoon in their opening game of the NCAA Division II Softball National Championship Tournament.

VSU held a 7-0 lead entering the top of the seventh inning before Bloomsburg came thundering back to cut the VSU lead to 7-5. Needing just one out, VSU pitcher Margaret Carter recorded just her second save of the season as she forced a fly-out to center field to secure the VSU victory.

VSU provided three homeruns on the afternoon as Melessa Jackson started the homerun fest in the bottom of the fourth inning with a two-run homerun while Sarah Vaughn added a two-run homerun in the bottom of the fifth inning. Marti Littlefield added her 17th homerun of the season in the bottom of the sixth inning to give VSU their final run of the game.

Despite all the three homeruns from VSU, it was Stephanie Carlson who drove in the first two VSU runs of the day as Alyssa Shirey scored in the bottom of the first inning while Morgan Johnson scored in the bottom of the second inning.

On the day VSU pitcher Holly Satterfield picked up her 26th win of the season despite allowing five runs, one earned, on eight hits while striking out six BU batters in 6.2 innings pitched.

BU pitching ace Shavaun Fisher, who entered the game with a 1.00 ERA, allowed six VSU runs on the day as she saw her record fall to 34-6.

With the opening round win, VSU will face top seeded North Georgia University (51-0) on Friday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. E.T. The game can be seen at NCAA.com and can be heard on the Blazer Radio Network, Talk 92.1 FM.

Lady Blazers give back to St. Joseph community

By Staff Reports

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Valdosta State, along with the seven other teams at the NCAA Division II National Softball Championship Tournament, took time Wednesday to put on a softball clinic for the community of St. Joseph, Missouri.

“This is a great experience for not only the young girls out here, but us as well,” said Stephanie Carlson. “They get an opportunity to learn but we get the opportunity to teach a game that we all love.”

Carlson, along with the rest of the Lady Blazers, put on a hitting clinic for nearly 30 young girls Wednesday as the team prepares for the start of the tournament Thursday.

“This is great. My daughter is clearly learning a lot in just a little bit of time. She is getting an opportunity to learn from the best while she’s still a sponge to soak it up,” said Regina Jewett, a St. Joseph resident. “Really, this is an opportunity of a lifetime for her.”

Valdosta State does plenty of work with youth softball in the Valdosta community, but the Lady Blazers enjoyed the opportunity to help out young softball players in another community.

“Our girls love working with youth. They do it a lot at home, and it’s nice to be able to do it here too,” said Head Coach Thomas Macera.

Now that Valdosta State has put in a practice session and worked with the community, all that is left for the Lady Blazers is to start playing games. That takes place at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

For the radio broadcast, fans can listen at Talk 92.1 FM, or go online at www.talk921.com. There will be live stats here and the NCAA will also be webcasting games throughout the tournament here. CBS College Sports will broadcast the championship game on television.

Softball Championship Preview

By Ed Hooper, The Spectator

VALDOSTA-The NCAA Division II Softball Championship is set. Eight teams have won their respected regions and have earned a bid to move on to Saint Joseph, MO. to compete for the national championship, which is set to begin Thursday.

The Lady Blazers of Valdosta State earned their bid and the South Super Regional Championship as they knocked off fellow Gulf South Conference opponent, Arkansas-Monticello, twice this past Saturday after dropping game one of the three game series in 12 innings on Friday night.

VSU (48-8) will face the Bloomsburg Huskies in the first round. The Huskies clinched the Atlantic Super Regional championship this past Saturday. Bloomsburg is 13-3 this season on neutral fields while Valdosta State is 17-2 at neutral sites.

Bloomsburg is led by Nikki Shiko. Shiko leads the Huskies with a team best .415 batting average while posting a team best eight triples and 64 runs scored. Shiko also leads the team with a 631 on base percentage.

In the pitching circle, Bloomsburg is led by Shavaun Fisher. Fisher has posted a 34-5 record, the third most wins of any pitcher at the tournament, while holding an even 1.00 earned run average in 259.2 innings pitched.

Valdosta State is led by catcher and senior Alyssa Shirey. Shirey leads the team with 20 homeruns hit and a .416 batting average while Marti Littlefield continues to provide the offense for VSU in the third spot of the lineup as she is second on the team with 16 homeruns hit.

In the pitching circle, VSU is led by their duo of juniors in Holly Satterfield and Margaret Carter. Carter picked up both wins this past Saturday to improve her record to 23-5 while the loss on Friday night dropped Holly Satterfield to 25-3 on the season. Both pitchers have an ERA under 1.41 and the duo has combined for 307 strikeouts on the season.

Along with Bloomsburg, Valdosta State will be joined at the Softball Championship by:

North Georgia Saints (50-0)
The Saints enter the Championship as the top seed as they have posted a perfect record this season. The Saints are 18-0 on a neutral site this season and are led by seven batters who have posted a batting average above .300. North Georgia clinched the Southeast Super Regional championship last weekend. The Saints are led by Sara Phillips in the pitching circle. Phillips has the most wins of any pitcher with 43 compared to zero losses while posting a 0.85 earned run average.

Metro State Roadrunners (51-4)
The Roadrunners come into the Softball Championship as the Central Super Regional champions and with the second most wins of any remaining team, 51, as they are just one win behind Wayne State who enters with 52 wins. The Roadrunners are most known for their homeruns hit. Metro State enters the tournament with 109 homeruns hits while allowing just 29 on the season. The Roadrunners have four batters who have hit 10 or more homeruns on the season as Tara Mickelson leads the team with 23. MSU has posted a 6-0 record on neutral fields this season and will open the Championship against Angelo State on Thursday night.

Molloy College Lions (43-19)
Molloy College has the most losses of any team still standing, 19. Despite the 19 losses only one has occurred on a neutral field as the Lions’ have posted a 10-1 record on a neutral site this season. Molloy College opens the double elimination Championship against the top seeded North Georgia Saints. Molloy enters as the East Super Regional champions.

Wayne State (MI) Warriors (52-11)
Wayne State enters with the most wins of any team remaining. The Warriors have posted a 21-5 record on neutral sites this year, also the most of any team remaining in the tournament. Wayne State opens the Championship on Thursday when they take on Hawaii-Pacific. Wayne State enters as the Midwest Super Regional champions.

Hawaii-Pacific Sea Warriors (44-7)
The Sea Warriors, who enter as the West Super Regional champions, have the farthest trip of any team participating in this week’s Championship. The Sea Warriors have posted a 6-2 record on neutral fields this season and enter with the fewest homeruns hit by a team with just 21. Hawaii-Pacific is best known for the place where ESPN Sportscenter anchor Neil Everett attended college and spent time as the Sports Informations Director.

Angelo State Rams (48-13)
The Rams enter as the South Central Super Regional champions and also with the second most losses of any team remaining in the tournament. The Rams have posted a 15-4 record on neutral fields this season and will open the tournament on Thursday when they take on Metro State.