Lee Academy's Jameson Collins, Ansley Nesbit selected to SCISA All-State softball team
With just two seniors being lost, Coach Nesbit excited about Cavaliers' future
Bishopville – Would Lee Academy softball head coach Craig Nesbit liked to have had a better season? Sure. The Cavaliers finished with a 12-12 record and went 2-2 in the SCISA AA state tournament.
However, Nesbit is looking beyond just the wins and losses.
“A successful season isn’t about where a team finishes, it’s about how far a team has come,” Nesbit said. “This team has come a long way in a short period of time. We all worked hard after last season. Pretty much the entire team played (American) Legion ball last summer and then we played a few tournaments together. Then for the ones that did not play basketball, we hit the weights last fall.
“We were stronger, faster and more experienced. I am super excited about the progress we have made over the last two seasons and can’t wait to see if we can seal the deal over the next two seasons.”
The reason for Nesbit’s enthusiasm about the future is because LA had just one senior in the starting lineup. That senior was Ansley King, an important cog as the leadoff hitter and second baseman. She was an All-Region 1 selection and played in the SCISA AA All-Star Game along with sophomores Jameson Collins and Ansley Nesbit and eighth-grader Beth Whiteside.
King had a .476 batting average to go with a .527 on-base percentage. She led the team in stolen bases with 19, had 34 runs scored and 14 runs batted in.
Collins and Nesbit were both named to the SCISA All-State team. Collins had a .526 average, a .598 OBP, a slugging percentage of 1.090 and 57 RBI, all team highs. Of her 41 hits, 10 were home runs and 12 were doubles, also all team highs. As a catcher, she had 11 pickoffs.
Nesbit, the third baseman, batted .432 with a 538 OBP and a .743 slugging percentage. She led in runs with 41 while picking up eight doubles, five HRs, 22 RBI and 11 steals.
Whiteside finished with a .351 average to go with 18 RBI, 24 runs and nine stolen bases. The first baseman had the top fielding percentage at .957.
Other key performers were freshman Presleigh Greene, freshman Riley Iseman, sophomore Karagan Melton, freshman Bristol Baker and senior Sara Bell.
Greene batted .370, Melton .317, Iseman .273 and Baker .258. Bell batted .333 with four doubles in 30 at-bats.
