Bobcats dealt winning hand

If Georgia College & State University softball thought last year’s recruiting class was good, then this year’s class has a chance to be outstanding.

Aundrea Baker, Diana Baruffa, Heather Jones, Kristen Rutledge and Amy Davenport are the five new Lady Bobcats who make up one of the best recruiting classes that GC&SU has seen in quite some time.

“It seems like every year, I say we have a huge talent of freshmen but this year, it is just an amazing amount of talent in our freshman class,” said Head Coach Windy Thees. “We got just five outstanding players in this years squad.”

Baker comes to GC&SU after being a three-sport athlete at Sandy Creek High School. She competed in softball, basketball and track. During her high school years, Baker earned All-State honors in softball and was also named Team Captain for both softball and track twice. Baker was a two-time “You Make a Difference” award recipient in softball.

“She is an outfielder, who’s gonna jump in right a way and play left field,” said Thees. “She’s got some speed that is unbelievable. Gary Harris played baseball for us last year, and she’s got that kind of speed.”

She also earned All-Bi City and Honorable Mention All-State honors
twice in softball and track. During her basketball and track days she received the Coach’s Award for both sports. She was voted the team’s Most Valuable Player in basketball.

Baruffa graduated from Centennial High School in Coquitlam, British Columbia. She played softball for the Burnaby Oakeys at the 2000 & 2001 Canadian Nationals, during which the 2000 season she was named the team’s Most Valuable Player.

Baruffa also played softball for the Western Canadian National Championship Teams during the 1999 and 2000 seasons.

“Diana Baruffa, who plays both middle infield positions and catches, and she is going to see time at all of those positions,” said Thees. “She also has just an amazing swing for a freshman and she will be hitting in the middle of our lineup some way, because she is so consistent.”

Jones comes to GC&SU from Evans High School where she was named the Most Valuable Offensive Player in softball. While at Evans High School, Jones graduated with perfect attendance.

“Heather who going to be DH’ing and playing first base sometimes for us,” said Thees. “She is working on a little bit of the differences in high school and college, it is a big step but she’s got a huge amount of power.”

Rutledge attended Gordon College for one year where she was red-shirted after suffering an ACL injury. Now Rutledge must work on getting back to being 100 percent.

“Kristen is a speedster, who is coming off a knee injury, so this spring is the first time she has hit full speed,” said Thees. “Right now she is about 90 percent but she plays all the outfield positions.”

Davenport transfers to GC&SU from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton where she was named to the Georgia Junior College Athletic Association (GJCAA) State Tournament Team.

“Coach has just brought in some real good players,” said junior Joni Frei. “Through out my first two years at GC&SU the recruiting classes were good, but I just think this is the best recruiting class yet.”
Davenport will see a good deal of time at first base but she can also play third if need be. Coming from ABAC Davenport has a good deal of power that GC&SU can look forward to throughout the year.

With the season just a few days old, the coaches will have to wait and see just how much of a factor these girls will be on the team’s chances this spring. But their futures’ look real promising.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 14 2003. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry