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Local Sports

Local sports in the Panhandle are not just a game, they are a lifestyle. Our community eats, sleeps and breathes cheering on our local athletes.
News13 is On Your “Sidelines” bringing you more than the score.
News13’s Stephen Gunter is committed to giving you stories of the Panhandle’s top athletes, intriguing match-ups and unusual sports you may not even know exist.
sgunter@wmbb.com

Friday, June 13, 2008

The Winning Never Stops in Wewa!

WEWAHITCHKA- When Coy Adkins took over as head softball coach at Wewahitchka last year, he had one goal, win another 2A state title, and he and the Lady Gators did that, but the state title isn’t the only trophy Adkins is receiving this year; he’s also bringing in another award.

Wewahitchka, a place where the softball diamond always seems to be worn down thanks to all the hard work the back-to-back 2A state champion Lady Gators put in to it.

Last month Wewa brought home another state title, but the award winning didn’t stop there, this week, 2A state softball coach of the year, Coy Adkins was named the 2008 Florida Dairy Farmers Softball Coach-of-the-Year. This award goes to the top coach of all classifications.

“It’s a huge honor for me, I want it to be more of a school and team award, because obviously without this school, we don’t have this team and without the great kids on this team, I don’t win this award,” said Wewahitchka softball coach Coy Adkins.

Adkins just finished his first season as the head coach at Wewahithcka, and he’s the 16th winner of the annual award, voted on by a panel of statewide high school softball coaches and prep media representatives.

Adkins doesn’t think all the focus should be on him.

“No matter what kind of a job that I do, if I don’t have the kids that are committed and the kids that listen, we don’t do what we did. The credit for this has to go to the players on the team,” stated Adkins.

One of those committed players Adkins is speaking of is 2A softball state player-of-the-year Samantha Rich.

This week, Rich was named runner-up for the 2008 Florida Dairy Farmers Miss Softball.

Rich was one of six girls up for the honor, but she was the only underclassman of the group.

“It just feels great, because I didn’t think that I would get any of that, because there are seniors and others that have really good stats, and I just didn’t think I would be up there with them,” said Wewahitchka senior Samantha Rich.

Don’t let Rich fool you, her stats were pretty impressive this season as well, including 267 strikeouts, a .400 batting average, and 11 homeruns.

“Samantha is a great player, probably one of the best players in the country overall. She’s multi-dimensional, meaning she can beat you with her pitching and she can beat you with her bat,” said Adkins.

Samantha is a great pitcher, as I found out first hand, because Coach Adkins wanted to see what I though of the senior pitcher, and I was impressed. She’s hitting 65 mph on the radar gun.

“Obviously, you saw how hard she can throw the ball. It is equivalent to about a 95 to a 97 mph fastball in baseball. If you blink your eye, literally if you blink, you are going to miss the ball. It’s pretty incredible the arm strength that she generates out of the body,” said Adkins.

Putting all the talent and awards aside, Adkins and Rich are both focused on the same thing for next year.

“We’re going for another state championship,” said Rich.

Three-peat, three-peat, we’ve already started working on it,” said Adkins.
Adkins is coaching an 18-and-under ASA Gold team this summer, and that squad will be playing in the national tournament in August in Oklahoma City, and yes, Samantha is on that team.

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