MIDDLEBURG - One can’t quite argue the merits of honoring the Clay Today Super 11 Softball selections with Middleburg High senior pitcher Mallory Forrester being named the Clay Today Super 11 Softball Most Valuable Player.
1. Class 5A state champion pitcher.
2. Class 5A player of year (Florida Dairy Farmers selection)
3. Fifth in state, Florida Dairy Farmer Miss Softball selection
That being said, Forrester will head to Flagler College with her 271 strikeouts and wicked, intimidating demeanor on the mound to face off against college bats with plenty of accolades in her resume bag.
For the Clay Today Super 11 choice; two pitchers; three infielders, two catchers, three outfielders and a designated player, the names on the list are the players chosen by the Clay Today sports staff that, if they were the coaches, would be who they would want on their bench. Stats and all that make up a part of the choice, but heart, grit, toughness and teammate prowess count a lot higher.
For the two pitchers, Clay High’s Gabby Ellis and Keystone Heights Madi Mitzel both gritted to deep playoff runs for their teams with both pitchers facing down some of the best offensive firepower in their classes; Baldwin for Mitzel, Deltona (4A state champion) for Ellis.
One inning spelled the end of the Clay run to the 4A title game and it was against the best team in 4A after the fact. Ellis returned from injury to burn her opponents with the same intensity as pre-injury and her teammates fed from her courage.
Mitzel was the firestorm for coach Jessica Marquart’s attempt to get back to the Final Four with the Lady Indians and the bat of Mitzel came into play for many games along with her wicked strong right arm. How Mitzel went was how Keystone Heights went. Her intensity permeated the team.
On the infield, the two most athletic infielders in Clay County without a doubt were Oakleaf High’s Mariah Sanchez and Keystone Heights’ Kiley Channell. Both were consistently steady and fast on the fly for normal grounders, but both were emphatically and fearlessly gifted to snag that ball that should have made the six-hole against mere mortals. Many a time, both finished games with dirt-splattered uniforms for their efforts.

SUPER 11 Softball

Mallory Forrester MVP

1. Madi Mitzel P
2. Gabby Ellis P

3. INF Maria Sanchez
4. INF Kiley Channell
5. INF Kaelyn Hagan

6. C Sydney Davis
7. C Meshayla Pettaway

8. OF Abbie Roach
9. OF Ciara Gibson
10. OF Khloe Banks

11. DP Mary Girgis

The third infielder liked by the Clay Today staff was just a freshman, third base Kaelyn Hagan of Middleburg, who entered the fray of big-time softball and flinched never at the hot corner including two game-changing plays in the playoffs that put her name on the map of “WoW.”
At catcher, the two powerhitting dynamos behind the plates were Clay High’s Sydney Davis and Oakleaf High’s Meshayla Pettaway. Both were the generals of defense for their teams while being instrumental offensive weapons in the box. Davis’ prowess led to an uptick in the Blue Devils’ fairly young lineup that induced massive defensive efforts in critical game scenarios for coach Matt Lewis.
For Oakleaf coach Heather Han, Pettaway was just one of a handful of barrage bats and base speed that struck fear in enemy lineups.
That “handful of barrage bats” mentioned in the prior paragraph belonged in part two Han’s two wicked fast outfielders; Khloe Banks and Ciara Gibson, two of the staff’s most mentioned names of players liked to watch. Banks and Gibson made high-launch fly balls easy pickings on defense while wielding explosive bats on offense.
From Keystone Heights, Abbie Roach in the outfield made several superb trackdowns of potential big hits by enemy bats while finishing the Indians’ season with a string of big hits.
At designated player, Ridgeview High’s highly-volatile centerfielder and team yeller, Mary Girgis, is the one player that anywhere, anytime could yield the big play; at-bat, slicing drives, diving outfield catches, smashing into teammates with reckless abandon and leading the pre-game rah-rah. Fun to watch a kid having fun.