Leesville, La. —
With the exception of just one player, all of the award winners on the all-Vernon Parish softball team, which is chosen by the sports department of the Leesville Daily Leader, are underclassmen.
But just how young are they?
The Most Valuable Player — Rosepine's Christina Hamilton — is a junior. The Offensive Player of the Year — Simpson's Stephanie Averitt — is a sophomore. Pitcher of the Year McKenna Goodwin is a freshman at Leesville and the Newcomer of the Year — Pitkin's Amber McCallon — is just a seventh-grader.
The only real veterans among the award winners are Leesville's Maile Goodwin and Rosepine coach Mark Brown.
Maile Goodwin, the Defensive Player of the Year, recently graduated from Leesville High School with a perfect 4.0000 average, while Brown, who guided Rosepine to the Class 2A state finals, just completed his 10th year at the helm of the Lady Eagle softball program.
Maile Goodwin, an all-state pick during her 2008 Vernon Parish Player of the Year season, had another stellar campaign as a senior.
The shortstop batted .500 on the season as she was named first-team all-district by the coaches in 3-4A. And although her bat was much-improved over last year's .296 average, Goodwin's contributions on the defensive side were even more impressive.
Handling many hard line shots hit to the left side of the infield, Goodwin made just a few errors in racking up a fielding percentage of .985 on the season, among the best in the state for her spot on the field.
Sister McKenna Goodwin made an impact in her first year at Leesville High School. The freshman pitcher accounted for 19 wins on the season, leading the Lady Cats to the second round of the playoffs, where they fell in nine innings to Zachary, 1-0.
Goodwin was a first-team all-district selection by the coaches in 3-4A, where she also batted .400 on the season, proving valuable on the offensive side of things as well.
Speaking of offense, perhaps no player was more deserving of the award that Averitt.
As the leadoff hitter for the Lady Broncos, Averitt was a threat to score any time she got on base.
For the season, Averitt had a batting average of .472, and in district play alone, had a total of 22 stolen bases. The District 5-B Most Valuable Player also scored 22 times for the Lady Broncos, averaging 2.2 runs per game in league play.
A contender for the District 5-B MVP, McCallon proved how valuable she was to the Lady Tigers success, despite being in the seventh grade.
Perhaps one of the most athletic junior high performers in Vernon Parish, McCallon batted .400 for the Lady Tigers and was almost an automatic run if she got on base.
After finishing up with the basketball team in February, McCallon stepped into her role as shortstop for the softball team and didn't miss a beat.
In fact, she had no errors during the 10-game district stretch, helping lead Pitkin to a share of the District 5-B crown with Simpson.
As for Brown, the veteran boss of the Lady Eagles, guided Rosepine to a school-record 34 wins in 2009, along with an appearance in the state finals, another first in school history.
Brown was also chosen as the head coach for the West All-Stars in the Louisiana Softball Coaches Association all-star doubleheader at Louisiana College.
