Gale named South Region Player of Week

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Gale named South Region Player of Week

Sports

Wednesday, 09 March 2011 13:22

St. Cloud’s Sam Gale was selected by the National Fastpitch Coaches Assoc. as the South Region Player of the Week.

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor
St. Cloud High senior pitcher Samantha Gale already has enjoyed one of the most successful prep softball careers in Osceola County history, but it got even better after she learned that she has been selected by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association as the South Region Player of the Week ending Feb. 28.
When her dad, Bulldog Coach Mike Gale, told her the news last week, she was surprised.

“I was like, ‘What?’” she said. “It was a real surprise. I didn’t expect it. I’m still processing it.”
Gale, who in November signed with Florida Southern College in Lakeland, batted .400 and was 5-for-5 with three RBIs in a 21-0 win over Poinciana when she won the award.
“It guess it was a pretty good week for me,” she said.
This week got off to a good start as well when the Bulldogs beat Gateway, 9-4, Monday as Gale had three more hits and an RBI, raising her season batting average to .467.
Freedom visits the Mike Clark complex today at 7 p.m. for a non-district contest.
On the mound, Gale is 6-3 with a 0.74 ERA in 66 innings. She has held opposing batters to a .132 batting average and has 78 strikeouts.
She has been the team’s varsity starting pitcher since arriving at St. Cloud as a freshman in 2008.
Coach Gale said Sam has been consistent this season.
“We’re 6-5, but the main reason for that is that we aren’t hitting the ball,” Coach Gale said. “We had a good game against Poinciana at the plate where I thought we were going to break out of it, but so far it hasn’t happened.”
The team also has fielding lapses, like when it committed 10 errors against Gateway Monday. All the Panthers’ runs were unearned.
The Lady Bulldogs had a good day at the plate Monday, rapping 10 hits.
Emily Blackmore had two hits and three RBIs and Breanna Benge drove in a pair of runs.
That performance may indicate good things for St. Cloud for the second half of the season. Sam Gale said the team has been hitting, but not consistently.
“We have a hard time stringing them together,” she said.
Coach Gale said he has noticed an improvement in the softball pitchers around Central Florida.
“I’ve seen more pitchers this year than I have before,” he said. “Even if they aren’t real fast, they are getting it across the plate.”
But most pitchers don’t do that as well as Sam Gale.
The National Fastpitch Coaches Association says so.

News-Gazette Photo/Andrew Sullivan