ASWA All-State softball teams…RELEASED!!!

That’s Glenwood softball coach Dusty Perdue being doused by the water cooler after the Gators won their first fast-pitch softball championship in school history in May. (And if you look to the left, I believe you’ll see the Montgomery Advertiser’s Tim Gayle suffering one of the unique casualties that comes along with being a sportswriter).

Perdue was named AISA softball Coach of the Year for his efforts, as the Alabama Sports Writers’ Association released its All-State teams and other end of the year awards Friday.

Three of Perdue’s players also cracked the first team in the AISA. Junior shortstop Bree Nowlin, who hit .401 this past season, junior catcher Leslie Kelly, who hit .482, and sophomore pitcher Ollivia McLemore, who was 18-2 with a 0.88 ERA.

Notice that none of those three are graduating. Yeah, Glenwood could be stacked next year.

Three more area players made their respective first teams. Auburn High (6A) third baseman Janelle Green, who finished her career with the Tigers ranked second on their all-time home run list, Beauregard (5A) sophomore second baseman Peyton DeLong, who just so happened to get a hit 55 percent of the times she came to bat this year, and Lee-Scott (AISA) senior outfielder Kelbi Burgering, who finished her Warriors career by batting .419 as a senior.

Conspicuously absent from the above list: Lee-Scott second baseman/pitcher Jessie Washington. Washington hit .442 for the state runners-up and was 13-7 on the mound with a 1.37 ERA. She just had to settle for honorable mention in the AISA, along with teammate Callie Rawlinson.

Also among the ranks of the honorable mentions: Central (6A) junior pitcher Erin Tyson, who was 20-6 with a 0.43 ERA for the Red Devils this year, Beauregard (5A) junior outfielder Amy Goodson, who hit .421 and, according to her coach Brandon Cobb, was not bashful when it came to diving through fences to catch fly balls, and Glenwood senior third baseman Britt Wilkerson, the MVP of the state tournament.

So congratulations to all who made it, condolences to all who didn’t, and now I have Washington to join Chantal Hall as chips on my shoulder to bring into the football deliberations in the fall.

Baseball teams are coming out later today. GET EXCITED!!!!