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Top (l-r): Gearlds, Grace, Shoulders; (l-r): Stansberry and Woodard
Courtesy: Tennessee State Athletics
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee - Tennessee State head
softball coach Jeff Dabney has announced the early signing of
five high school seniors. The class of 2017 consists of Liz Stansbury from
Palmyra, Mo., and four from Tennessee, Courtney Gearlds (Donelson), Alex Grace
(Moss), Sydney Shoulders (Hartsville), and Lauren Woodard (Mt.
Juliet).
"We
were looking to get more athletic and build depth to create constant competition
for positions," Dabney said. "We lose two of our better players to graduation
and filling the void is going to be tough, so it was important that we brought
in capable speed, power, and pitching to make sure the program continues to move
forward with the most athletic kids possible."
Courtney Gearlds
IF/OF,
Donelson, Tenn., McGavock HS/Worth 95
Gearlds is a four-year member of the McGavock
High School team under head coach Alana Thomas and was named team MVP in her
past two seasons. She is a three-time All-District recipient and has named to
the All-Mid State Third Team as a sophomore and junior.
She
has also been a member of the volleyball team for all four years and earned
All-District distinctions during her junior and senior campaigns. As a senior,
she also claimed a spot on the All-Region team.
Gearlds played travel ball for Charlie Gravat
and Ricky Ritchie as a member of Worth 95. Her team qualified and competed in
Birmingham, Ala., at the 2012 16-U ASA national championships.
Gearlds plans to study Dental Hygiene with
aspirations for a career as a dentist.
Coach Dabney on
Gearlds
"Courtney is a local kid from literally down the street at
McClintock. Her initial impact she made with us was her speed. I like people who
can run. She put a ball in play and took off and I was interested. She came to
camp and showed her athleticism and I liked what I saw. We sat down and talked
with her and found out she is my kind of kid. She is competitive, but a really
sweet and down to earth person."
Alexandria (Alex) Grace
UT,
Moss, Tenn., Clay County HS/Diamond Stars
Grace is a four-year member of the softball team
at Clay County High School under the tutelage of Richard Boswell and Randall
Walker. She has been selected to the All-Conference and All-District teams in
all three seasons heading into her senior year of play. Grace guided her team to
three consecutive district championships.
As a
freshman, she earned a letter in volleyball before joining the basketball squad
as a junior and senior. In her first year with basketball, Clay County claimed
the 2012 Tennessee State Championship.
Grace plays travel ball for the Diamond Stars
and head coach Jerry Woodard. She is undecided in her potential major at
TSU.
Coach Dabney on Grace
"She
is a good find and I feel she has a big upside. She is a raw prospect with all
the physical tools to play at this level, but just not the experience. She is a
five-foot-ten kid with the ability to play all nine positions and switch hit. I
look forward to see where she ends up during her four-years here. She will come
in and will be a hard worker and compete. It will be interesting to see how good
of a player she becomes as she progresses through our system."
Sydney Shoulders
IF,
Hartsville, Tenn., Trousdale HS/Tennessee Xplosion Gold
Shoulders has competed for Cecelia Stricker and
Trousdale County High School for the past three years. She has been named to the
All-District team in all three of her seasons and selected to the district
All-Tournament team in her sophomore and junior years.
Shoulders is also a three-year letter winner in
basketball and earned the Offensive Award in each year with the team, as well as
the defensive award as a junior. She claimed a spot on the district
All-Tournament as a freshman and sophomore and named All-District as a
junior.
She
was a Wendy's High School Heisman finalist and belongs to the Beta Club and the
Interact Club. She serves on the student council and is a part of Fellowship of
Christian Athletes and Future Business Leaders of America. Her travel team, the
Tennessee Xplosion, coached by Brian Drake and Murk Thurman, qualified and
competed in the ASA 16-Under national tournament in 2012.
Shoulders intends to major in Nursing at
TSU.
Coach Dabney on
Shoulders
"She is a local kid and it was a high priority for us to
put a stranglehold on local talent. I don't want to have to constantly run to
the west coast to get everybody for your team. She is an athletic kid that plays
shortstop for her summer team, as well as some outfield. She has a good arm,
runs well and has power at the plate. She is also a great student and great
students are easy to coach, in my opinion. She is also competitor and I just
love everything she does on the field."
Elisabeth (Liz)
Stansbury
Infield, Palmyra, Mo., Palmyra R-1 HS/Worth
Prospects
Stansbury competed all four years for Palmyra
R-1 High School and head coach Brian Wosman. She helped guide her squad to
conference championships as a freshman and a senior, as well as four straight
district championships. As a sophomore, her Palmyra team finished second at the
state championships, before coming back the next year to become State Champions.
Stansbury and her teammates returned to the state tournament in her season,
completing her career with a fourth place finish.
From
her sophomore to senior seasons, Stansbury was an All-Conference, All-District
and All-Area selection. She was named to the All-Region team as a sophomore and
a senior and was named to the Missouri All-State during her sophomore
campaign.
Stansbury was selected as an All-Conference and
All-District athlete for the discus as a member of three district championship
track and field teams. She is in her fourth year as a member of the basketball
team, which claimed a conference championship as a junior. She was also a member
of the golf team as a sophomore.
Stansbury plays for Cathy Weathered and the
Worth Prospects during the summer and stays active as a member of the Future
Business Leaders of America, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and a member of
the student council, where she has served as secretary and vice president. She
is also a member of the National Honor Society, Society of Academic Achievment,
FCCLA and is on the Principal Liaison Committee. Stansbury also volunteers at
the Maple Lawn Nursing Home.
As
an incoming freshman, she intends to major in Psychology.
Coach Dabney on
Stansbury
"She is a Coach (Samantha) Buckner find. Buckner is a
picky recruiter and Liz showed those intangibles that kept bringing her back.
She is a ball player and at the end of the day, that's what you are looking for.
We got the chance to actually be around her when she came to camp, to see what
she was like as a person and that just sealed it for me. Coach Buckner gets all
the credit for finding her talent wise, but Liz sealed the deal with me, because
it is important to find good people for the program. She is a winner and a smart
kid that plays the game hard."
Lauren Woodard
P/Utility,
Mt. Juliet, Tenn., Mount Juliet HS/Nashville Nighthawks
Woodard is entering her fourth year as a member
of Brad Rowlette's Mount Juliet HS squad. She hit .333 as a freshman, but was
used more as a pitcher as a sophomore as she tallied a 29-7 record. Woodard was
used in both capacities as she finished 17-6 in the circle and hit .369 with
three homeruns and 41 rbi.
The
lefty utility player was selected as Rookie of the Year in 2010 at MJHS. Woodard
was named to the All-District team in her sophomore and junior seasons as she
guided her squad to back-to-back Sub-State Championships and berths to the TSSAA
State Tournament.
Woodard also competed in volleyball in high
school as a junior and currently plays her travel softball with Larry Spears and
the Nashville Nighthawks. During the 2012 summer, her Illusions 16-U team,
coached by Tonia Trrussell Martin, competed in the ASA National Championships in
Birmingham. She is also a member of Fellowship Christian Athletes and is active
in the community with The Bridge Fellowship.
Woodward intends to major in Special Education
and hopes to work with children with special needs.
Coach Dabney on
Woodard
"She is another local prospect, from Mt. Juliet HS. She
brings a left handed bat with power potential and played first base, outfield
and pitches. The ability to be versatile is important to a softball program. It
also brings a different look to the pitching staff and you have to be different
at the higher levels. You have to have pitching to compete and you have to have
athletic kids to do special things on our field. Lauren brings all that to the
table. She does have a lot of development left to go and has a great upside. We
feel she hasn't even come close to reaching her full potential and look forward
to watching her grow."
"They are all great students, which is important
to us as a program," Dabney continued. "They all bring different intangibles to
our team, but the main thing is they all fit the perimeters we are looking for
in all of our classes; the ability to do multiple things."
MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Way back in 2001, I wrote a column in which I
encouraged Alabama State to build an on-campus stadium.
