No. 12 WSCC softball collects three wins over weekend; 2nd WSCC Sports Hall of Fame class inducted

HANCEVILLE, Ala. – Wallace State’s 12^th-ranked softball team collected three victories over the weekend in the season-opening JUCO Classic in Clearwater Fla.
The Lady Lions (3-4) opened the season by winning consecutive games against Northwest Florida State College and Pasco-Hernando State (Fla.) College. They also defeated Daytona State College on Saturday.
Wallace State lost to Indian River State College, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Palm Beach State College and Polk State College over the three-day tournament.
Wallace State’s Katie Parr, Shelby Brown and Taylor Beshears each homered in the 8-0 victory over Pasco-Hernando.
Brown finished the tournament with five hits, including the homer and a double. Beshears, the team’s shortstop, added four RBIs in her first collegiate games.
Sophomores Molli Garcia and Olivia Royal had five hits apiece for the Lady Lions over the weekend. Among her five hits, Garcia had a pair of doubles and collected four RBIs. Royal had a double, triple, scored five runs and swiped four bags.
Freshman outfielder Amber Hammonds had four hits, scored five runs and collected three stolen bases.
In the opener, freshman right-hander Brittany Ledbetter was the winning pitcher in Wallace State’s 5-4 triumph over Northwest Florida State College. She went the distance, striking out five and allowing three earned runs on four hits.
Jessie Butler, a freshman from Lexington, tossed a four-hitter, striking out five, in a five-inning shutout over Pasco-Hernando.
Haley Hughes became the third Wallace State freshman pitcher to record a win on the mound in a 3-0 blanking of Dayton State. Hughes threw a six-hitter, recording two strikeouts and one walk.
Wallace State begins play Friday at the Creek Indian JUCO Classic in Atmore.
Wallace State athletics inducts second Sports Hall of Fame class.
Wallace State inducted its second Sports Hall of Fame class on Sunday in conjunction with the college’s 50^th anniversary. The 2016 inductees are former women’s coach Larry Slater, former Wallace State golfer and PGA tour pro Brett Wetterich, former Wallace State golfer and current Florida State golf coach Trey Jones, former Wallace softball player Cindy Mallard and contributor Johnny Thornton.
Wallace State plans to add a new class to the Hall of Fame every two years.
Here’s a closer look at the 2016 class:

• Larry Slater was the long-time leader and face of the Wallace State women’s basketball program, establishing the Lady Lions into a perennial state contender. Slater coached at Wallace State from 1989-2011, compiling a 479-163 career record. Slater’s teams won six conference championships, advanced to the conference title game on 15 occasions and made four NJCAA Division I national tournament appearances. Slater will also be inducted into the Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame this May.

• Brett Wetterich is a former Wallace State golfer and former professional golfer on the Nationwide and PGA tours. Wetterich, an Ohio native, played for Wallace State from 1992-94. From 2000-05, he won two events on the Nationwide Tour before winning his first PGA event in 2006. As a rookie, Wetterich earned a spot on the United States’ 2006 Ryder Cup team. Wetterich compiled career earnings of more than $7 million. He is also a member of the NJCAA Hall of Fame.

• Trey Jones is a former Wallace State golfer and assistant coach and currently the head golf coach at Florida State. Jones, a Cullman native, golfed at Wallace State from 1987-1988 and served as a Wallace State assistant coach from 1992-1995. Jones has led Florida State men’s and women’s golf since 2004 and guided Florida State to its most successful season in 2015, earning ACC Coach of the Year honors for the second time. Jones, who was also the ACC Coach of the Year in 2008, has led 14 of his 19 teams at the Division I level to the NCAA Championship tournament.

• Cindy (Barksdale) Mallard was an integral member of the first Wallace State slow pitch softball team in 1981, which won a state tournament in its inaugural season. Mallard was an outfielder on the 1981 team and named state tournament MVP. She was also an all-tournament selection as a sophomore in 1982 when the team finished conference runner-up. An employee since 1994, she remains an active supporter of Wallace State athletics.

• Johnny Thornton, who today broadcasts each Wallace State home basketball game on 92.1 WKUL-FM, served as Wallace State’s sports information director from 1982-97, providing publicity for the college’s athletics and as the statistician for the basketball, softball and volleyball teams. Thornton was also inducted into the Cullman County Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.

For more information about Wallace State athletics, visit athletics.wallacestate.edu.