Organized Chaos

Bryam Garcia’s baseball season officially is over.

The Gulf Coast sophomore right-handed pitcher was shut down last week. He was attempting to come back from shoulder surgery during the summer, but GC coach Mike Kandler, his staff and Garcia decided it was wise to apply for a medical hardship waiver to save a year of his eligibility.

The 5-foot-10, 180-pound Garcia signed with Florida International University and will be able to play up to three seasons for the Golden Panthers if he is successful in receiving the medical redshirt.

Kandler believes Garcia will have no trouble earning the medical hardship since he has met the requirements, which include not playing in more than 20 percent of the team’s games before the injury occurred or was aggravated. Garcia also couldn’t throw a single pitch in the last half of the season to qualify.

“We tried to accelerate the timetable for his return, but we knew this was best for Bryam,” Kandler said. “He’s too good of a guy to just throw out there and waste a season.”

Garcia appeared in one game this season. He started against Shelton State Feb. 17 and tossed one inning with a walk, a hit batsmen and a wild pitch. He was 6-1 with a 2.86 ERA, 53 strikeouts and 21 walks in 66 innings as a freshman.

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Some recruiting seasons are easier than others. Gulf Coast softball coach Susan Painter enjoyed a less stressful one this year.

Painter all but finished recruiting for next season with only six incoming commitments due to the possibility of having as many as 16 returners from this year’s team. She said last week there is a chance to sign a seventh player, which likely could be a transfer in the summer.

Area athletes, pitcher/infielder Crystal Thompson of Holmes County and outfielder Tiffany Adkison of Vernon, join pitcher/infielder Kaitlin Ellingsworth (Temple City, Calif.), pitcher Heather Hughes (Havana), pitcher/infielder Jordan McAllister (Dothan, Ala.) and shortstop Samantha Posey (Leesburg, Ga.) as commitments for the 2009 season.

Ellingsworth is the sister of former Lady Commodores Lindsay and Ryann.

Posey is the sister of current Florida State University baseball players Buster and Jack.

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Nine recruits will join the 2009 Gulf Coast baseball team, Coach Mike Kandler announced on Thursday.

Mosley’s Taye Larry, an infielder/outfielder and Wakulla’s Cameron Graves, a first baseman/outfielder, are the only Florida recruits.

The other seven who will become Commodores are outfielder Mike Love (Opelika, Ala.), outfielder/left-handed pitcher Cameron Greathouse (Columbus, Ga.), catcher Whitt Dorsey (Auburn, Ala.), outfielder Will Howard (Columbus, Ga.), third baseman/outfielder Jeremy Boyte (Russell County, Ala.), right-handed pitcher Bryce Lane (Russell County) and catcher Seth Adkins (Brookwood, Ga.).

There likely will be a 10th recruit, but no official word was made as of Monday. The incoming freshmen will join up to 11 returning sophomores next season.

First-timers

Jake Sullivan hit his first career home run for GC in a 7-6 loss to Shelton State Feb. 16. The solo blast off the scoreboard at Bill Frazier Field capped a four-run seventh inning. Sullivan went 135 at-bats without a home run as a freshman, and while not noted for his speed had two triples over the course of 58 games before hitting his first homer.

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Gulf Coast softball coach Susan Painter traveled to Bangkok, Thailand last summer to coach Team USA in the World University Games. She brought back home a tradition in international softball that may be taking some teams by surprise.

The Gulf Coast softball team hands out trinkets to opposing teams before the first game of each doubleheader. The gifts, minimal in cost but great in significance, have been a variety of softball keychains in the first three twinbills.

Word is this gesture will be made prior to each home game. They will do this the rest of the season, from what I understand, and even for heated rival Chipola.

This is the latest change made this season by Painter, who knew she needed a different approach with her youngest team. She has made a considerable effort to stress to me that she is teaching the knowledge of the game, which often can be lost on a younger player.

She understands that she had to temper her expectations because she truly didn’t know what she had. She knew she had talent, but a young team can go one of two ways quickly. Fortunately the first six games, all wins, have gone well with only two errors and some smart defensive play from catcher Nicole Walker, shortstop Whitney McCarson and outfielder Karri Bisbee, just to name a few.

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