Two-sport standout Kayla Carlisle and baseball pitcher Kris Dockery were chosen to receive this year’s Dr. Charles Paul Conn Student Athlete of the Year awards at Lee University. Carlisle played volleyball and basketball two years at the Cleveland school after transferring from Berry College. She reached the NAIA final four in both sports – twice in volleyball, in which her Lee teams went 47-7, she twice was the conference tournament MVP and she received NAIA All-American honorable mention. Her Lady Flames basketball squads were 56-13, and she was All-East Division in the Southern States Athletic Conference. She was SSAC all-academic both years. “She is truly the meaning of a student-athlete and is very deserving of this award,” basketball coach Marty Rowe said. “I really feel that Kayla is a great example of what the Paul Conn Award stands for,” volleyball coach Andrea Hudson said. “She has excelled on the court in both volleyball and basketball … she excels in the classroom … but most importantly, she carries herself as a strong Christian athlete.” Dockery already is a two-time NAIA scholar athlete and three-year All-SSAC scholar for a baseball program that has gone 212-47 in his four years and finished second in the NAIA twice. The Flames recently were ranked No. 1. “Kris has lettered as a pitcher and served as our team chaplain for his four years at Lee,” baseball coach Mark Brew said. “During that time he has excelled in the classroom and has exhibited exemplary character on and off the field.”
BASEBALL/SOFTBALL
Even though the softball team can’t be present because of a makeup doubleheader in Morristown, Chattanooga State is holding an open house for its elaborate new baseball and softball fieldhouse today at 1 p.m. It includes spacious locker rooms for both nationally top-10 diamond teams, a shared weight room and trainer’s room, offices for head coaches Greg Dennis and Beth Keylon-Randolph, laundry rooms and conference rooms.
COLUMBUS, Ga. – Belhaven, the No. 2 seed from the SSAC West, beat Lee 12-3 as the league softball tournament got under way Thursday. Christina Jaques, Rebecca Rousseau and Rachel Wright each went 3-for-3 for Belhaven (41-10), Jaques driving in three runs and CeCee Austin scoring three. Danielle Balough and Kelsey Barnes each was 2-for-3 with an RBI for Lee (26-15), which plays Brewton-Parker in an elimination game this morning at 10 and would play again at noon and 4 p.m. as long as it keeps winning. Senior second baseman Balough made the All-SSAC team for the third year in a row. She was batting .400 coming into the tournament, with team highs of 10 home runs and 44 RBIs. Her junior sister Brittany, senior Hernanza Ruiz and frshman Ana Coscorrosa joined her on the All-East team.
KINGSPORT, Tenn. – One day after eliminating Bryan from the Appalachian Athletic Conference softball tournament, third-seeded Milligan eliminated fifth-seeded Tennessee Wesleyan with a 5-1 defeat Thursday. That left TWC with a 16-25 season record. Top-seeded and nationally 14th-ranked Reinhardt edged Montreat 4-3 in the winners-bracket final.