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1997-1998 OUTLOOK
Last season was full of highlights for the Fillies who, en route to a 17-20 record (and 9-1 in Georgia Junior College Conference play), captured the State Championship in convincing style and barely missed an NJCAA National Championship berth in their first tilt at the rapidly expanding junior college Fastpitch level.
Eight talented freshmen join the nine, returning players for the Fillies' continuing assault on the Southeast college Fastpitch scene. All of the Fillies' sophomores, including 1997 All-Tournament and All-Conference selections, Canadian pitcher Jennifer McCarthy, catcher Anna Schell and rightfielder Sonya Poole, bring a leadership and maturity back to the ABAC program for the 1998 season.
Coach Campbell has made a strong commitment to improving her program by expanding the Fillies' schedule to more than fifty games in the Winter and Spring of 1998. The team will travel to major tournaments in Florida (twice) and Alabama, while playing a challenging program of home and away doubleheaders against many of the top-ranked teams in the country including Florida's Tallahassee and the 1997 National Championship runners-up, Lake City.
The Fillies' players are especially looking forward to defending their State Champion's title against an expanded GJCAA conference that now includes Young Harris College from north Georgia, in addition to ABAC's longtime combatants, Dekalb Community College and Gordon Junior College. The GJCAA Tournament will be hosted in Tifton in May, and the retention of their title will be high in the minds of the Fillies' players.
The ABAC players will also be determined to avenge a heartbreaking elimination from District C post-season play at the hands of Louisburg College, NC in mid-May of 1997. A dogged fight back by Louisburg in the third game of the playoff held in North Carolina, denied the Fillies an opportunity to travel to Hutchinson, Kansas, for the Junior College National tournament in their first year of Fastpitch. Despite the loss, the Fillies' 1998 potential had been revealed though, as Louisburg subsequently finished in fourth place at the Nationals, giving ABAC fans cause for excitement as to what may be this year.
Campbell's Fillies' team did lose much of its offensive firepower from 1997 as outfielder Deanna Roberson (.365 ave./30 RBI), past All-American infielder Paula Moore (.370 ave/14 RBI) and infielder Ingram Perry (.396 ave/16 RBI) have all moved on to four year schools. Roberson signed with Lander University, S.C. in the strong Peachbelt Conference while Perry has garnered time at secondbase with the NAIA's Georgia Southwestern College in Americus, Ga. Moore and solid thirdbase player Tiffany McMillan, are continuing their education at Valdosta State University.
Despite the fact that these players will be missed, Coach Campbell is excited about the potential of the freshman recruits and the winning attitude provided by the experienced sophomores... "We have a great group of athletes on this, our second Fastpitch team, and I feel that with plenty of dedication to practice, and a mature approach in games, this group can develop into a very competitive team."
"Our goal in this program has always been to have a top-class team who loves to hustle
and compete with the best. I strongly believe that with our philosophy of hard work and
commitment, we can take our program the extra step, to being one of the last sixteen
teams in the country at the NJCAA Nationals this year."