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2000: ABAC FASTPITCH OUTLOOK
Last season was full of peaks and valleys for the third year of the Fillie fastpitch program. One of the biggest additions to the ABAC program was the groundbreaking on the new Fillie field. All home games were played at the new field, which was a great addition to the program. The Fillie field played host to the GJCAA State Championships and will host the 2000 Championships in April.
Coach Campbell has reloaded for the 2000 season as eleven new faces will join four returning sophomores. The Fillies plan on continuing the assault on the Southeast college fastpitch scene and building their program to a national power.
Coach Campbell has made a strong commitment to improving her program by expanding the Fillies’ schedule to more than 50 games in the spring of 2000. The team will travel to major tournaments in Florida (4 times) and Alabama, while playing a challenging schedule of home and away games, including some of the top Florida junior colleges, like TCC, Lake City, and Santa Fe.
The ABAC Fillie field will be one year old this season. The new field is located on the rear of campus next to the tennis facility and the baseball field. The field features two concrete dugouts and pitching bullpens on each side of the diamond. The field is encased in green windscreen with yellow poly-caps. Home plate to center field is 225 feet and 215 down the lines. The grass is Bermuda and just recently a sprinkler system was added. A batting cage and hitting circuit is positioned down the left side of the diamond.
The Fillies players are looking forward to playing their second year on their new field. Especially exciting, is that the GJCAA is now expanding to nine teams competing in GJCAA Region XVII. Joining ABAC, Young Harris, Gordon College, and Ga. Perimeter are South Ga. College, Darton College, Coastal College, Middle Ga. College, and Andrew College. All nine team will be in competition for the GJCAA Region XVII State Title.
Campbell’s Fillies team will return two full time starters and two players who received considerable playing time last season. Krista Lovejoy will return to the pitching mound and Kelli McNary will return behind the plate. Sarah Burcham, who played right field last season will probably move to second base and Sabrina Pace, who played a back up role in the outfield will challenge for a starting spot on the 2000 team. Another familiar face rejoining the Fillies is Amanda Johnson. A.J. will rejoin the Fillies after a year off and will pitch and play 1st base. With these five returning players, Coach Campbell feels this group will be a strong foundation for the eleven few players.
Coach Campbell has brought in ten freshman and one sophomore transfer to join the five returning Fillies. Coach Campbell is excited about the potential of the new recruits and the winning attitude and hard work they showed her during the fall season.
"Experience is the biggest asset of these recruits. Most of these recruits have been playing the fastpitch game, which will bring more experience than teams I have had in the past. I feel we will be a much-improved club from last year and a much better hitting team. We have a started a great fastpitch tradition at ABAC in just three short years and I feel with our ethics of hard work and dedication, this could be the best ABAC faspitch 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, and a little luck, we can make our program a regular face at the NJCAA National Tournament"