VALDOSTA, Ga.- Senior pitcher Samantha Richards, sophomore outfielder Abby Sulte and freshman first baseman Jayme Prandine have been named to the 2023 All-Gulf South Conference team as selected by league coaches. Richards and Sulte earned a spot on the first team with Sulte being an at-large selection while Prandine made the second team.

Richards earned All-GSC first team for the third straight season in a row, becoming the only player on the current list of honorees to reach this accomplishment. The Alpharetta, Ga. native finished the season as the GSC leader in strikeouts (226), wins (24), innings pitched (215), shutouts (7), and saves (3). Nationally, Richards is first in complete games (29), third in games started (30) and third in pitching appearances (41). Also of note, Richards current career total of 836 strikeouts ranks fifth best in GSC career strikeouts.

Sulte, a native of St. Petersburg, Fla., earned first team honors as an at-large selection for the first time in her career. Sulte finished the regular season going 47 for 37 for a team-high .356 batting average. She had two doubles, 19 home runs and 54 RBI through 47 games. Sulte is tied for first in the GSC in home runs (19) and home runs per game (0.40) while being third in RBI (54) and fifth in slugging percentage (0.803).

Prandine had a breakout first season with the Blazers to earn All-GSC second team. Prandine played in all 47 regular season games, starting in 44 of them. She tallied 35 runs on 38 hits with five doubles, one triple, six home runs with 17 RBI for a .302 batting average. Prandine ranks second in the GSC in sacrifice bunts per game (0.19) and eight in walks per game (0.57). She also currently has a streak of reaching base in 12 straight games.

The Blazers will now turn their attention to the first matchup of the GSC Tournament with 4-seed Auburn Montgomery set for Wednesday, May 3 at 4:30 p.m. ET. Streaming will be available through FloSports while live stats and updates will be posted to vstateblazers.com.

2023 SOFTBALL AWARDS & ALL-GSC TEAMS
Player of the Year: McCall Lee, Mississippi College
Pitcher of the Year: Katie Bracken, Alabama Huntsville
Gold Glove Award: Gia Martin, Auburn Montgomery
Freshman of the Year: Ann Marie Stanbridge, West Alabama
Coach of the Year: Brooke O'Hair, Mississippi College

First Team
P - Katie Bracken, Alabama Huntsville
P - Samantha Richards, Valdosta State^^
P - Madison Wright, West Alabama
C - McCall Lee, Mississippi College^
1B* - Hannah Harper, West Florida
1B* - Ann Marie Stanbridge, West Alabama
2B - Lawren Hayes, Alabama Huntsville
SS - Macey Neal, Union
3B - Chloe Derrick, Auburn Montgomery
OF - Shelby Samples, Mississippi College
OF - Kinley Adams, Alabama Huntsville
OF - Shelby Sloan, Montevallo
DP - Kamryn Eaton, Mississippi College
AL* - Erin Moon, West Florida#
AL* - Abby Sulte, Valdosta State
AL* - Jenna Ergle, Mississippi College
AL* - Jordan LaFosse, Mississippi College

Second Team
P - Camryn Bailey, Mississippi College
P - Avery Dickerson, Auburn Montgomery#
P - Morgan Ferguson, Auburn Montgomery 
C* - Kelsie Gilliam, West Alabama
C* - Sidney Lee, Lee^
1B* - Jayme Prandine, Valdosta State
1B* - Taylor Robinson, Montevallo
2B - Brooke Fagan, Mississippi College
3B - Jordan Moore, Mississippi College
OF - Kaylee Vaught, Alabama Huntsville^
OF - Ana Macha, Lee
OF - Chloe Baynes, Auburn Montgomery
DP - Molly Cobb, Auburn Montgomery^
* tie in voting; no tiebreakers
^ previous First Team All-GSC selection
# previous Second Team All-GSC selection