Dillon Christian softball “exceeds” expectations
Molly Andrews, Lilli Shooter, Presley McKenzie, Braylin Carter All-Region selections
Dillon – Ben Andrews didn’t know quite what to expect in his first season as the head coach of the Dillon Christian School softball team. Now that it’s done, he admits it went better than he imagined.
“I would say the season exceeded my expectations,” said Andrews, who saw the Warriors go 15-9 on the season. “Everyone worked together and figured out a way to pull out wins. Even when we lost, we never gave up.”
With only three seniors on the roster, a lot of the DCS players were having to learn as the go. Andrews could see the development.
}”We worked a lot on baserunning and fundamentals early, and we saw all of them applying everything we worked on all season long,” he said. We knew it was going to be tough with just one pitcher, but we definitely exceeded my expectations.”
Dillon Christian had four players selected to the All-SCISA Region 3-AAA team in senior Molly Andrews, junior Lilli Shooter, junior Presley McKenzie and sophomore Braylin Carter.
Molly Andrews, the daughter of the head coach, had a tremendous season. She led the Warriors in hitting with a .453 batting average, runs scored wth 28, runs batted in with 31, doubles with 14 and home runs with four.
Coach Andrews said Molly, who will play collegiately at Coker College, was not only a leader at the plate but more importantly on the field and in the dugout.
“Molly’s performance was phenomenal,” the head coach said. “She can play anywhere, but she normally plays third (base). She had to fill the shortstop role this year and nailed it. Defensively she was on point and took a leadership role for sure. When situations came up, she would bring the girls together and lay out the plan, then all of them would execute it perfectly.
“Offensively, she had the best season she ever had. She led the team in runs scored, RBI and home runs. She was very disciplined at the plate and made something happen every time. She had an awesome season.”
Shooter pitched all but two-thirds of the total innings pitched for DCS. She pitched 126 innings and had 176 strikeouts while walking 47 and allowing 90 hits. She had a 2.83 earned run average.
Shooter had a good year at the plate as well, batting .394 with five doubles, two triples, 15 RBI and 21 runs.
McKenzie batted .246 with a double, a triple and 12 RBI. Carter batted .262 with a double, two homers, 20 RBI and 19 runs.
