Quadruple play
Published 4:38 pm Monday, July 14, 2014
Four Franklinton High School softball players were selected for the top team on District 8-4A this season.
Juniors Baylee Mixon and Haley Sanford along with freshmen Shelby McDonald and Kalie Buffinet earned first-team all-district honors.
Mixon, who made the team in the outfield, hit .506 this year with a double and 18 runs batted in. Mixon reached base at a .560 clip and slugged .630 and tallied 24 runs.
Mixon did not strike out this season in 92 plate appearances.
Sanford, who made the club at utility, batted .288 with a .384 on base and .397 slugging. Sanford hit a homer, while tallying 14 runs batted in to go with five doubles and 24 runs scored.
Sanford also did a nice job in the pitching department. She went 4-1 with a 1.57 earned run average. She finished with 18 strikeouts and 11 walks in 26.2 innings of work.
McDonald, who is on the team at infielder, batted .406 with a .512 on base percentage and .667 slugging.
McDonald went deep three times and drove in 26, while picking up seven doubles and a triple.
Buffinet, who was selected at outfield, batted .464 with a .570 on base and .522 slugging. Buffinet drove in six runs and scored 32 and doubled four times.
Franklinton’s second-team players included juniors Macey Purvis, Austen Felder and Laken Spears, along with freshman Hannah Adams.
Purvis, an infielder, logged one homer with 11 RBIs and 14 runs scored. She also doubled three times and tripled once.
Felder, an outfielder, batted .370 this season with five doubles, a triple, 13 runs scored and 13 runs batted in. Felder reached base at a .452 clip and slugged .500.
Spears, who made it at catcher, hit .279 with a .408 on base and .361 slugging. She finished with 13 RBIs to go with five doubles.
Adams was selected at pitcher.
She went 5-7 this season with a 3.09 earned run average in 88.2 innings pitched.
This season, Franklinton went 14-13 and had no seniors. The Lady Demons made the playoffs as the 26th-seeded team and lost 11-0 to seventh-seeded Benton, who reached the quarterfinals before losing to 15th-seeded North DeSoto, 19-1.
St. Scholastica Academy pitcher Chloe Conravey is the District 8-4A Most Valuable Player, and her coach Charles Richard is this year’s Coach of the Year.
The rest of the first team, including Conravey and the FHS players, is Pearl River pitcher Hannah Watts, SSA catcher Sam St. Pierre and Lakeshore catcher Katie Gunther, infielders Pearl River’s Renee Jordan, LHS’ Marin Thomas and SSA teammates Holly Huhn and Sam Zelden. The outfielders include SSA’s Lindsey Berns and LHS’ Rachel Hunter. The rest of the utility players are SSA’s Elaina Cole and PRHS’ Alyssa Ross.
The rest of the second-team players are Salmen infielder Brittnei Alvarez, LHS infielder Emma Austin, SSA infielder Ashley Elsenshon, SSA outfielder Erica Yaeger, LHS outfielder Nicole Ferrera, Pearl River utility players Abby Mayfield and Brooke Heinz, along with SSA utility Lillian Guttuso and Salmen’s Allison Vincent.
SSA was a playoff team this season as the No. 20 seed. The Doves made the regionals, but lost to fourth seeded and eventual state champion St. Thomas More 5-1.
Lakeshore went to postseason play as the No. 28 seed and lost to fifth seeded A.J. Ellender, 4-3.
Ellender made the quarters, but lost 5-1 against St. Thomas More.