ALL-AREA SOFTBALL 2009: Beauregard’s DeLong named Hitter of the Year

Peyton DeLong has fallen just short of her personal goals during her first two years playing softball at Beauregard.

But when you take a look at those goals, that’s not such a bad thing.

DeLong wanted to hit .500 as a freshman. She hit .459.

She wanted to hit .600 as a sophomore. She hit .551.

Next year? She’s shooting for .700.

“I’ve been trying to get there,” DeLong said. “I hope I hit the same. I hope I don’t go down any.”

If she does, she’ll probably have a good chance of repeating as the Opelika-Auburn News’ softball Hitter of the Year.

Besides her astronomical average, the sophomore second baseman had a .590 on-base percentage to go along with nine doubles, three triples and 36 RBI. She was also named first-team All-State in Class 5A.

Hornets coach Brandon Cobb said she’s not afraid to mix it up in the field, either. She still sports a couple of scars from when she got spiked in the face by a sliding runner at the Auburn Spring Invitational in March.

“You know you’ve got a pretty bright future with that one,” Cobb said.

The same can be said for the rest of Beauregard’s squad.

The Hornets are losing two starters this year: pitcher Jana Cooper and outfielder Patricia Hollinger.

Past that, they have two rising seniors, six rising juniors, five rising sophomores and a whole bunch of freshmen coming up from junior varsity.

And this is a team that, despite its youth, came within a bad inning of making it to the state tournament this year.

“We’ve come a long way this year and next year we’ll be even stronger,” DeLong said. “We’ll have more drive to get it and reach that goal.”

And with a lineup that includes DeLong and honorable mention All-State outfielder Amy Goodson — as well as freshman ace Robin Dunaway pacing the circle — that goal is looking more and more attainable.

After all, if you leave DeLong in high school long enough, she’s going to want to bat 1.000.

“It’s just her eye for the ball, at that age,” Cobb said. “As long as she keeps getting better, keeps working, she’ll be fine and we’ll be fine.”

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