VALDOSTA – In a preseason poll of coaches throughout the Gulf South Conference, Chelsea Canara, Brandy Morgan, and Heather Robinson were all selected to represent the Valdosta State softball team as members of the 2017 Preseason All-GSC Team.
In addition, the Blazers have been projected to finish third in the Gulf South Conference standings at the conclusion of the 2017 regular season.
Canara secured a spot among the preseason honorees for the first time in her career, following a season in 2016 that led to the best statistical effort of her career. As a junior last year, Canara posted an impressive .360 batting average with 37 RBI’s and 42 runs scored. She ranked among the team’s best in doubles with 10 and added one triple and four homers. In addition, she posted 16 walks, a team-high 14 sacrifice hits, and seven stolen bases. Most impressive, however, was how smoothly Canara made the transition on defense to the team’s starting third baseman. The Milton, Ga. native started all 57 of VSU’s games at the hot corner and racked up 86 putouts with 96 assists. She committed just eight errors in nearly 200 opportunities on the year.
Morgan has established herself as a mainstay in left field for Valdosta State during the first two seasons of her career with starts in every game the Blazers have played since the start of the 2015 season two years ago. During that time, the slugger has racked up 99 hits, 93 RBI’s, 23 homers, and a .589 slugging percentage. Morgan enters her junior season as a .310 career hitter with 18 doubles and 79 runs scored. She has hit 10-plus home runs in each of her two seasons as a Blazer, and last year, she committed just one error in left field over the course of 57 games.
The third and final selection for the preseason All-GSC team was Robinson, who enters her senior year on the heels of a junior year that produced a .321 batting average. As the team’s designated hitter last year, Robinson ranked fifth in the GSC with 14 homers, and she posted 40 RBI’s with eight doubles. Her efforts led to her first career All-GSC recognition as a Second-Team honoree at the end of the 2016 season.
The release from the GSC on Wednesday indicated that the Blazers received five second place votes from coaches throughout the league, three third place votes, two fourth place votes, and one stray seventh place vote for a total of 98 points in the preseason poll. Head Coach Thomas Macera’s club will be gunning for their seventh GSC Championship within the last nine years, and will enter the season with their eyes on a return trip to the Division II Softball National Tournament, where the Blazers have made an appearance in three of the last five seasons.
Landing in the top spot was the defending National Champion North Alabama Lions as a unanimous pick. Meanwhile, Alabama-Huntsville edged out the Blazers in second place with 105 points. West Florida claimed the fourth place position, followed by Delta State in fifth, Mississippi College in sixth, Shorter in seventh, and West Georgia in eighth. Lee, West Alabama, Union, and Christian Brothers rounded out the bottom four positions, respectively.
The GSC release also highlighted top newcomers in the conference and included Kasie Johnson and Tana McDaniel. Johnson joins the team this season as a transfer out of Savannah State and is expected to bolster VSU’s pitching rotation, while McDaniel represents a junior transfer infielder out of Indian River Community College.
The Blazers are wrapping up their second week of preseason practice and are prepared to kick off the 2017 season on February 4th in Gulf Shores, Ala., where VSU will compete for three consecutive days at the Gulf Shores Invitational. The team’s season opener will take place at 11:00 a.m. against North Georgia.
Also, don’t miss the annual Blazer Blast with both the baseball and softball teams this Sunday, January 29th, at 2:00 p.m. at Billy Grant Field and Steel’s Diamond at Blazer Park.
