May Madness for Longwood softball

Published 11:04 pm Friday, May 13, 2011

Longwood’s softball team finished the regular season splitting a doubleheader at nationally-ranked Georgia on Wednesday to end the season 37-13. King’s Fork alum Leigh Sexton is an infielder for the Lady Lancers. Longwood’s waiting to see if it’ll get an at-large bid into the NCAA Div. I Tournament.

Longwood’s softball team finished its regular season by splitting a doubleheader at No. 8-ranked Georgia on Wednesday. The Lady Lancers are hoping their season isn’t over.

Virginia State won the 25th PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. to go with the Trojans’ CIAA championship earlier this season. Sophomore Rashad Hunt, back row, far right, is a former Nansemond River standout. Hunt carded scores of 78, 81 and 75 at the PGA Golf Club.

Longwood (37-13) is hosting a March Madness-style NCAA Selection Show watching party Sunday night in Farmville as the Lady Lancers will find out if they are in the 64-team NCAA Division I Tournament.

In the doubleheader in Athens, Ga., Longwood beat Georgia 7-5 and lost 8-0 to improve to a 3-1 record against SEC schools this season. Longwood is No. 50 in the RPI and is 10-5 this season against schools from the ACC, SEC, Big Ten and Big East. Longwood is an independent program in its seventh season in NCAA Div. I.

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Junior infielder Leigh Sexton (King’s Fork) has played in 27 games for Longwood recording five runs and committing no errors, mostly at second base.

King’s Fork alum David Hommell was a conference champion, national tournament qualifier and team MVP for Penn State-DuBois wrestling this season as he finished his two-year career there.

Wrestling at 133 pounds, Hommell was the Mid-East Conference champion and made the National Collegiate Wrestling Association National Championships for the second year. Hommell went 3-2 and reached the round of 12 at the nationals in March in Macon, Ga.

Hommell was voted team MVP, and he’s earned academic honors for graduating with a 3.0 or above GPA.

Virginia State’s golf team won the Div. II level of the 25th PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. last Friday-Sunday. It’s the first title in the event in VSU golf history.

Rashad Hunt (Nansemond River) shot rounds of 78, 81 and 75 to be the No. 3 Trojan player for the tournament. The Trojans beat runner-up Lincoln (Mo.) by seven shots with a team total of 927, 63-over-par.

Virginia State won the CIAA championship earlier this spring.

Suffolk native Stephanie Maher (Peninsula Catholic) earned All-Colonial Freshman Team honors for her season pitching for George Mason.

Maher had the best record for the Lady Patriots (19-25, 8-12 CAA) at 7-4 and the second-best ERA on the team at 2.92. Maher played in 30 games pitching 72 innings and getting 34 strikeouts.

In a span of less than 24 hours, Norfolk State’s softball squad ran its winning streak to 13 games by advancing in the MEAC Tournament, then had its season come to an end with back-to-back losses Thursday and Friday in Ormond Beach, Fla.

Junior third baseman and clean-up hitter Whitney Holland (King’s Fork) hit a two-run single in the top of the seventh inning breaking a tie for what held up as a 5-3 NSU win over Morgan State Thursday afternoon.

NSU’s 13-game winning streak is the new program record since moving into NCAA Div. I.

Bethune-Cookman beat NSU 6-3 Thursday night. Coppin State beat NSU 1-0 Friday morning to end NSU’s season with a 23-25 record.

Holland went 5-for-11 with four RBI in the tournament games. She hit .333 with three homers and 36 RBI for the season.