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Published Sunday, November 15, 2009 in Sports

Daniels, Garmany top All-County selections

By Stuart Crosby

The Newnan Times-Herald

The 2009 high school softball season saw three teams with a lot of youth and desire make runs to the state playoffs with the hope of postseason rewards.

The Newnan Lady Cougars under head coach Carrie Gilmore had production from different spots in the order this season with a roster that had one senior at the beginning of the campaign and participated in the first round of the Class AAAAA state playoffs before they were eliminated by Lowndes.

The Northgate Lady Vikings again had pitching again with senior Ashley Anderson and junior Forrest Skelton but key hits in certain situations haunted the 2007 AAAA champs and for the first time since head coach Lisa Skelton's first season of 2002, the Lady Vikings were not part of the Elite Eight state tournament in Columbus.

Meanwhile, the East Coweta Lady Indians had new players at pitcher, three of the infield spots and catcher but they overcame the adversity to finish with a 27-8 record and their fifth straight trip to Class AAAAA's Elite Eight.

Each team had a key player or two that led either statistically or by example and this season East Coweta senior outfielder Shirley Daniels and Newnan junior catcher Molly Garmany share the 2009 player-of-the-year award as The Times-Herald selects the All-Coweta County team.

"Shirley had an outstanding year and was the spark plug of our lineup. She was very effective at the plate for us being able to bunt for a hit, slap, or even drive the ball," commented Lady Indians head coach Franklin Deloach. "She was a very tough out for the opposing team all year long. "She was superb for us defensively as well. but most importantly about Shirley, she is a great team leader."

At the plate, Daniels hit either first or second all season as she batted .489 in 94 at bats with team-high finishes in stolen bases (25), runs scored (38) and on base with a .514 average and was among the leaders with 20 RBIs.

Daniels also proved to be a leader in the outfield as she was part of a "track meet" trio with Haley Parkerson and Brittany Sinkfield that committed a total of three errors in 35 games.

As for Garmany, the catcher had a banner season with a .468 average, four home runs along with 8 doubles and 21 RBIs to go along with a .986 fielding percentage behind the plate.

"Molly is a very competitive, tough and aggressive," according to Gilmore. "She also performs very well academically, maintaining an A average while taking many Advanced Placement classes.

Daniels is joined by four teammates in Parkerson and Sinkfield along with pitcher Megan Chocallo and second baseman Malori Maddox.

Garmany is joined by five as well in pitcher/third baseman Amber McIntyre, pitcher/second baseman Dani Gravett, utility player Emily McCullough, first baseman Katie Stewart and outfielder Barnecia Orr.

Representing Northgate on the team this year are pitcher Ashley Anderson, second baseman/pitcher Forrest Skelton, shortstop Ansley Smith and first baseman Andie Martin.

For the second consecutive season Deloach, who has been named coach-of-the-year in baseball and softball during his EC tenure, is the 2009 coach-of-the year.

Daniels, Smith, Garmany, Parkerson and McIntyre are returnees from the 2008 all-county squad.

Of the players to be named two are freshman (Chocallo, Martin), four sophomores (Smith, McCullough, Gravett, Parkerson) five juniors (Stewart, Sinkfield, Garmany, Gravett, Sinkfield) while Maddox, Daniels and Anderson were the only seniors.

As for the freshmen named Chocallo had a phenomenal season as she took over for the pitching duo of last year's player of the year Christina Ezell and Alison Owen with a 24-7 record with an ERA of 0.60 and 193 strikeouts in 175 innings while Martin hit a team high .333 with two home runs and 14 RBIs.

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