Vote: Georgia softball 2023 pitcher of the year
It was a banner year for Georgia softball with many memorable performances and clutch efforts. Now it is time to determine who is the 2023 Georgia Softball Pitcher of the Year.
Below is our analysis of the top 10 contenders and we invite your opinion by asking you to vote on who you believe is most deserving of this honor. We also recognized several Honorable Mention candidates who received strong consideration to be included in our list.
Voting ends Nov. 30th at 11:59 p.m. Please vote and share with your community.
Here are the nominees:
Tymber Harris, Vidalia
Harris was lights out in her senior season. As Vidalia’s ace, she put up some big-time numbers including 182 innings pitched, 344 strikeouts, and only 20 earned runs, with an opposing batting average of .134. She also showed that pitchers could be impactful at the plate. She finished the season with a .305 average, 25 hits, and six homers. Harris helped her team earn a Final 4 visit in 3A and now she will shift her focus to the collegiate level where she will be pitching for Georgia Tech.
Macey Cintron, Wesleyan
Cintron’s trophy room is probably overflowing, and she was just recently announced as the Region 7-3A Pitcher of the year. Cintron dominated the opposition all year long but she showed how truly un-hittable she is in the postseason. Let me just run down the last couple games that she started, keeping in mind she was Wesleyan’s starting pitcher for the majority of the postseason. She was the winning pitcher in the championship game with nine strikeouts. She threw a no-hitter in the game before that. She was winning pitcher with a shutout in a final four game versus Gordon Lee, also hitting a two-run homer. In other games, all as the winning pitcher, she had 12 strikeouts and the game-winning RBI, 12 strikeouts and three RBIs at the plate, 10 strikeouts, and 12 strikeouts. Clemson, her next stop, will be glad to have her pitching in the circle.
Gwendolyn Hill, Hebron Christian Academy
Hill put up some all-world numbers this season. She was Hebron’s ace in the circle and showed it every chance she got. Her end of season numbers look like video game stats. She finished with 206 innings pitched, a 1.60 ERA, 26 wins and 304 strikeouts. She led all pitchers in the state in strikeouts and reached her 400th career strikeout during the season. Hill was awarded the Region 8-3A Pitcher of the Year award and also just recently committed to Furman University.
Hannah Cole, Lambert
Cole was the team leader in strikeouts, wins, and co-leader in homers. Mainly she was Lambert’s superstar ace, and the numbers support that statement fully. She finished the season with 20 wins, a 1.30 ERA, 296 strikeouts, with a season-high 18 strikeouts in a seven-inning shutout against Mill Creek and held her opponent's batting average was a measly .152. She also earned Region 6-7A Pitcher of the Year honors.
Grace Kelley, Glascock County
Kelley was always in the zone when she stepped into the circle this season. She made sure her senior season was her best, finishing with 304 strikeouts, 184 innings pitched, 20 wins, and an unbelievable 0.68 ERA. To pitch that many innings and not have an ERA above 1.00 is beyond amazing and the talent did not go unnoticed. She was the Region 5-A Player of the Year for the second year in a row and Presbyterian College recognized how great she is so that’s where she will be spending her next four years.
Maddie Veal, Newnan
Veal was the Region 5-6A Player of the Year, and it was so deserved. She was a beast during the regular season, finishing with 131 innings pitched, 252 strikeouts, 17 wins, 1.44 ERA, and an opposing batting average of .151. She also had 13 complete games and some of her strikeout totals in those games were, 17, 19, 14, 15, 14, 13, and 12. With all that being said, it would seem unfathomable that she could reach another level come postseason, but she did. She went 57 consecutive shutout innings in the postseason over seven games en route to a state championship. Her best playoff performance was probably her 14 strikeout shutout against South Effingham in the Elite 8 where she also hit a three run homer to blow it open.
Maddie Johnson, North Oconee
Johnson was this year’s Region 8 4A Pitcher of the Year. Her hard work throughout her high school career really paid off and you could see it every time she stepped in the circle this season. She threw 157 innings, with a 1.78 ERA and 261 strikeouts. After a great career at North Oconee, Johnson will be moving on to pitch for Georgia Southern next season.
Addie Edwards, Heritage
What Edwards did this season was honestly unbelievable. Let me break it down for you. She pitched 131 innings, had an opposing batting average of .095, and only gave up one home run all season. All those are great stats were only the tip of the iceberg. She also had 220 strikeouts, 19 wins and zero losses, and an ERA of 0.05. Her stats are insane, and to top it off she pitched the last two games of the season including the championship game and had 21 strikeouts and only allowed five hits en route to a state title.
Caroline Stanton, Buford
Stanton is only a sophomore, but she was dominant and far above her competition despite her classification. She was this year’s Region 8-7A Pitcher of the Year. She has had some big-time performances already like her first no-hitter, a 19-strikeout game, hitting a home run and throwing a perfect game in the same game, a 16 strikeout one-hit performance, and a no-hitter in the last regular season game.
Kendall Frost, Pope
Frost earned Region 7-6A Pitcher of the Year honors for the third time in her high school career. The East Carolina commit had herself a spectacular senior season. She was the ace on a Pope team that went 33-5 and all the way to the State Championship game. During the season she went over 600 career strikeouts and had a 38-inning scoreless streak, both Pope school records. In addition, she also became Pope’s all-time wins leader.
Honorable Mention:
J.J. Sweat, East Paulding
Jada Savage, East Coweta
Emma Grace, Buford
Bailey Kendziorski, South Effingham
Emma Jordan, Stratford Academy
Abby Lovell, Northside
Victoria Na, North Gwinnett
Lyla Morici, Kell
