• With local athletes competing at the next level          

Softball

Samford University senior Megan Dowdy was named the Southern Conference player of the year. The Fairhope High School product hit .399, third in the conference, with 35 runs batted in through 57 games. She led the conference with 81 hits and 24 doubles and was fourth with 11 stolen bases. The outfielder had a perfect fielding percentage in 110 chances for Samford, which won the conference title.

The Samford University softball team also made history by receiving its first ever NCAA Softball Championship automatic bid after securing it with a 4-3 victory in extra-innings over Furman University May 14, in the Southern Conference Tournament Championship. The 40 wins is also the most ever by a Samford squad while the SoCon regular season championship and tournament championship are the second overall in the program's history.

Infielder Ashlynn Kimbro of Wallace Community College-Dothan has been named to the Alabama Community College Conference all-Region 22 second team and South Division first team. Formerly at Daphne High, she hit .350 in 57 games. She led the team with nine home runs and had 39 RBIs, third on the squad.

Faulkner State Community College freshman outfielder Hannah Brown is on the all-Region 22 first team and South Division first team. The past Pirate batted a team-high .446 in 56 games and had 16 RBIs. She led the team with 28 stolen bases in 33 attempts.

Golf 

  University of Montevallo junior Elaine Wood has been recognized for her golf performance. The Spanish Fort High School graduate was named the Peach Belt Conference golfer of the year and was chosen to the all-conference first team. She received each honor a second consecutive year.

She led the conference with a 74.1 stroke average in 25 rounds. She won the Full Moon BBQ Invitational in September and the Lady Cougar Classic in February. She was third at the Peach Belt Conference Championship to earn a spot on the all-tournament team.

Wood qualified for the NCAA national championship as an individual after tying for fifth at the NCAA Division II South Super Regional. She led the team by shooting a 222 (75-73-74).

Baseball

Huntingdon College senior Patrick Kucera is an all-USA South Athletic Conference first-team selection. The Robertsdale High graduate was the team's lone representative on the first team. The outfielder hit .355 in 44 games with one home run and 24 RBIs. He had a team-high 25 stolen bases, third in the conference, in 29 attempts. Kucera had a .991 fielding percentage in 117 chances.

 As a junior, he was named second-team All-Conference and named to the USA South Academic All-Conference team, batted .313 (45-for-144) with 48 runs, 19 RBIs, eight doubles, 19 stolen bases and a .487 on-base percentage (fourth in the conference), drew a Division III-high 35 walks. His 48 runs scored were second in the USA South and tied for seventh in Division III and led the Hawks and was second in the USA South with 19 stolen bases.

Send updates about Baldwin area athletes to Barbara Boxleitner at bboxleitner@outlook.com.