Last night at the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) softball tournament banquet hosted by Lee University, the awards came pouring in for the Lady Hawks softball team as head coach Melanie Carter won Coach of the Year honors and Missy Duke was named Freshman of the Year.

In her first year of coaching for Shorter, Carter has led her team to a 39-5 overall record (25-3 conference) and a regular season conference title. The Lady Hawks currently are ranked sixth in the country by the latest NAIA national poll.

Duke, a freshman from Bowdon, Ga., has been a driving force for this year’s team with a 21-2 regular season record, where she struck out 216 batters. Not only was she strong for the Lady Hawks on the mound, but she also batted .373 at the plate with 24 runs, nine doubles, five home runs and 33 RBI. 

Shorter also had four named to the All-Conference team, three to the All-Conference 2nd team, two to the All-Freshmen team and four named All-Academic. They are:

All-Conference – Elisabeth Barber, Missy Duke, Kerry Hammond, Jessica Sanders

All-Conference 2nd – Kandi Bruno, Kali Milford, Lakyn Newton

All-Freshmen – Liz Clark, Missy Duke

All-Academic – Kandi Bruno, Lindsey Byers, Kerry Hammond, Terri Lynn Ricks