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ALL-AREA SOFTBALL TEAM
PLAYER OF THE YEAR SAM HARRELL
All-Area First Team
Honorable Mention BREANNA ALTIZER Port St. Lucie junior third baseman LAUREN ASHE St. Lucie West Centennial senior second baseman
Amanda Bayerlein
TORI BETHEL Sebastian River junior first baseman
Maddie Brister
ASHLEY CREEL Fort Pierce Westwood senior left fielder BROOKE DEAN John Carroll junior catcher
Sara Burgos
MCKAYLA ELAM Master’s Academy junior infielder
Sarah Davis
MEREDITH FLYNN St. Lucie West Centennial junior first baseman KAYLI GEBHARDT South Fork freshman shortstop Carol Giuffrida
AUTUMN GREEN Vero Beach freshman pitcher
Janira Guzman
MEGAN GUEVAREZ Port St. Lucie sophomore shortstop KENDALL HEDGECOCK Vero Beach senior shortstop
Alex Hartley
TORI JOHNSON Fort Pierce Central freshman catcher
Caitlin Justice
HOLLY JONES Jensen Beach junior pitcher TAYLOR MARTIN Lincoln Park freshman shortstop SHANESSA REES Fort Pierce Central junior third baseman/pitcher
Carissa Licata
Miesha McBride
CAT RIZZUTI Jensen Beach senior first baseman MICHAELA SIHLER Treasure Coast sophomore infielder
ALEX BOERNER/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS
Okeechobee High School’s Sam Harrell is the 2012 Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers All-Area Girls Softball Player of the Year after helping the Brahmans reach the Region 3-7A championship game. Nicole McHenry
Rachel Rahal
Alicia Mello
Andrea Sempsrott
Cool and confident
AMANDA BAYERLEIN
Fort Pierce Central senior pitcher Stats: Went 11-7 with 1 save, 117 strikeouts; batted .389 with 13 RBIs
MADDIE BRISTER
Vero Beach freshman catcher Stats: .398 batting average, 1 home run, 20 RBIs, 16 RBIs
SARA BURGOS
Treasure Coast freshman outfielder Stats: .424 batting average, 2 triples, 2 home runs, 9 RBIs
SARAH DAVIS
Okeechobee junior first baseman Stats: .405 batting average, 4 home runs, 24 RBIs, 19 runs
CAROL GIUFFRIDA
Jensen Beach senior shortstop Stats: .282 batting average, 3 home runs, 18 RBIs, 16 runs scored
JANIRA GUZMAN
St. Lucie West Centennial senior catcher Stats: .453 batting average, 6 home runs, 22 RBIs
ALEX HARTLEY
Lincoln Park junior center fielder Stats: .585 batting average, 1 home run, 15 RBIs
DIAMOND WILSON Martin County senior pitcher EMILY WILKINSON Port St. Lucie junior pitcher
Sam Harrell kept batters guessing all season as Okeechobee advanced to the regional final By Jon Santucci
Player of the Year
Special to Treasure Coast Newspapers
Taylor Strickland
ASHLEY WATSON Okeechobee senior utility
OKEECHOBEE — Sam Harrell stands in the middle of the pitching circle a lot like a poker player. She wears sunglasses to keep hitters from knowing which of her five pitches she might throw. She’s supremely focused on the task at hand and refuses to give in or give up. “She has the mentality that she’s not going to lose,” Okeechobee coach Christina Bragman said. “She had a phenomenal season. She practiced hard, pitched well, averaged 10 strikeouts a game and worked hard on her movement. “She was just eager to pitch her heart out.” Harrell was outstanding all year, but took her game to another level in the postseason. After a closer-than-expected district semifinal — in which Harrell finished with a shutout but left the bases loaded for the final out of the game — she threw three consecutive shutouts to help Okeechobee reach the regional championship game. For her efforts, Harrell is the Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers Softball All-Area Player of the Year. “I just wanted to lead my team further than we’ve ever gone before,”
Sam Harrell
Okeechobee senior pitcher Stats: Harrell posted a 14-4 record with a 1.26 ERA and 222 strikeouts in 150.1 innings pitched. She also had a .313 batting average with five doubles, one triple, 10 RBIs and 10 runs scored. Harrell was outstanding in the postseason, throwing three consecutive shutouts to help Okeechobee reach the Region 3-7A final. Okeechobee coach Christina Bragman: “She had a lot of movement on her pitches and she always strives hard and she stays on top. She never liked to fall behind. If she were to walk somebody or give up a hit, she’s coming back with three straight strikes and challenging the batter. She just had the mentality, ‘You’re not going to beat me.’ ”
said Harrell, who broke her own single-season strikeout record with 222. “None of the girls had ever gone that far before. We had a young team and they gave it their all. “Toward the end, I really felt like I was on my game.” Harrell’s postseason dominance
Coach of the Year
started with a one-hitter against Martin County in the District 12-7A championship game. She then helped Okeechobee beat a pair of teams that had reached the Final Four in 2011. First it was a two-hitter against Sarasota, then a 10-strikeout performance against Bradenton-Braden River in the regional semifinal. “I was just focused on leaving everything on the field,” said Harrell, who has signed with Brevard Community College. “I just tried to block everyone else out and make sure all of my spins were moving.” Harrell started pitching when she was 7 years old and throws a screwball, rise ball, curveball, changeup and drop ball. She describes herself as a junk-ball pitcher who favors her screwball as an out-pitch. She said she threw the screwball more than any other during the playoffs. “If it’s a right-handed batter, the ball moves from left to right on the hands of the batter,” Harrell said. “I try to keep the batters guessing. Hitting is all about timing and I try to interrupt it. “I think I did a good job this year, but I wish I could have took my team to states this year, though. “All in all, it was a pretty good year.”
First Team continued CAITLIN JUSTICE
Jensen Beach senior catcher Stats: .315 batting average, 12 RBIs, 14 runs scored
CARISSA LICATA
Okeechobee sophomore center fielder Stats: .386 batting average, 1 home run, 8 RBIs, 21 runs scored
MIESHA MCBRIDE
Lincoln Park senior catcher Stats: .388 batting average, 1 home run, 13 RBIs
NICOLE MCHENRY
St. Lucie West Centennial senior shortstop Stats: .556 batting average, 8 RBIs, 21 stolen bases, 35 runs scored
ALICIA MELLO
Vero Beach senior third baseman Stats: .330 batting average, three doubles, 13 RBIs
RACHEL RAHAL
John Carroll senior third baseman Stats: .304 batting average, 2 home runs, 22 RBIs, 19 runs scored
ANDREA SEMPSROTT
Master’s Academy sophomore pitcher Stats: Went 8-2 with 2.15 ERA, and50 strikeouts; batted .488 with 27 runs scored
TAYLOR STRICKLAND
Sarah Gillooly
School: Fort Pierce Central Years with team: 3 This season: After starting the season 0-4, Fort Pierce Central finished the year 12-7 for its first winning season since 1997. The Cobras took Region 3-7A finalist Okeechobee to the brink in the District 12-7A semifinal, loading the bases in the seventh inning before falling 5-3. Central was the only team to score against Okeechobee pitcher Sam Harrell in the Brahmans’ first four postseason games. Quotable: “I am so proud of the season that our girls had. They worked so hard as a group and that’s why we had the year we had — because we worked together. I can’t even tell you how proud I am of those girls.”
The Team The 2012 All-Area Softball Team was compiled by Jon Santucci.
Lincoln Park freshman pitcher Stats: Went 18-5 with a 0.39 ERA and 162 strikeouts; batted .313 with 14 RBIs
All-Area Spring Sports Schedule SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Girls Tennis
Boys Tennis
Girls Track
Boys Track
Girls Lacrosse
Boys Lacrosse
Softball
Baseball