Lady Panthers Charlee Coursey and Dominique Sibley recently were named to the 3-AAA All-Region Team. On Monday afternoon, softball coach Jerome Standard presented commemoration certificates to the girls.
"Their outstanding play is what allowed them to be there," Standard said. "The coaches really picked Dominique Sibley out at third base, and they saw what a good job Charlee Coursey did behind the plate and so they were honored."
Sibley was picked on the All-Region first team and Coursey made the All-Region second team.
"I’m very proud of both of them," the coach said.
While Coursey will return as a Lady Panther for one more season, Standard said the void left by Sibley will be difficult to fill.
"She is probably the best third baseman to play at Liberty County that I can remember when it comes to fast pitch," he said. "She is going to be very difficult to replace not only as a player, but as a leader on the team. That is something that is very difficult to replace because a kid actually has to rise up to fulfill that job. We are going to miss her dearly but she is going to be playing ball at college somewhere."Sibley said she has received offers from Young Harris College and Georgia Military College, but is keeping her options open for now.
"It means a lot," Sibley said of the honor. "I never expected to get it, but getting it is an honor.
She said she’ll play for a traveling team to "keep from getting rusty."
The third baseman said she is also keeping her options open regarding what position she’ll play in college.
"Third base would be fine, but wherever I’m needed, I’ll go," she said.
Coursey said it felt good to be honored.
She decided not to play basketball this season to hone her skills as a catcher for next season. She wants to play softball in college and plans to spend the summer on traveling and recreational teams to develop her footwork. She said that is the cornerstone of being able to throw runners out at second.
"Throwing the ball to second is not as easy as it seems when you are starting out crouched behind the plate," she said. "It’s really hard. You have to know when to throw it right and I felt I was a little off this year."