UGA Softball
Georgia Softball to Host Red & Black Showcase
By Chloe Webb - Feb 15, 2023
ATHENS, Georgia - After a 5-0 weekend in Orlando, Florida, No. 10 ranked Georgia softball team is looking forward to competing at home in the Red & Black Showcase. The Feb. 9 matchup against No. 20 UCF was Georgia’s closest game of the weekend, resulting in a 4-2 victory.
After an impressive offensive display last season, the Bulldogs are hoping to match that energy with their defense and pitching. For head coach Tony Baldwin, bringing in graduate transfer student Shelby Walters from Duke might be the key to success.
Walters had a breakout junior season while playing for the Duke Blue Devils, making 31 appearances with a 1.28 ERA and a stunning 19-3 record. In addition to recording 87 strikeouts on the season, she also had nine complete games. The Cohutta, Georgia, native missed most of her senior year due to a foot injury but had entered the transfer portal prior to the start of the season for her last year of eligibility.
According to Softball America, Walters decided on Georgia based on three things, “family, education and competing for a national title.”
Her competitive edge was spoken about at length by Baldwin.
“We refer to her as a pro. She's just, she handles her business really well. She's pretty emotionally stable, she's competitive. She's fit in personality wise, from a maturity standpoint,” he said.
The Bulldogs had a strong offensive 2022 season and are hoping to continue on that path for the upcoming season. Players Jayda Kearney, Sydney Kuma and Sara Mosley were all featured on this year’s Preseason All-SEC team. They bring big bats to the field for Georgia, last season saw Kearney bat .364, Kuma at .333 and Mosley at .418.
In Central Florida’s Black and Gold Tournament, Kearney blasted four home runs, three in one game against Ohio State and one more - a grand slam - against Boise State.
A player that Georgia is sure to be glad to have back is previous SEC All-Freshman Team member Sydney Chambley. Chambley put up great offensive numbers in her first two seasons as a Bulldog, batting .326 with 20 home runs. After recovering from a hand injury that had her on the bench for most of last season, she is ready to get back on the field and experience a weekend at Jack Turner Stadium in their home opener.
“When the Jack is packed as much as it normally is, it also gives us confidence that there's more than just ourselves believing in each other. And so when we see people come out and put their effort into investing into us by being at the game and cheering us on, I think it gives us this confidence of like, we are doing this for so much more than ourselves,” she said. “We're doing it for the little girl who wants to be in our position one day because we've been in those stadiums.”
The question that remains this season is, will their pitching match their offensive power? Georgia’s ace from last year, junior Madison Kerpics, finished with a 3.09 ERA and 187 strikeouts in 42 appearances. The combination of Kerpics and Walters is sure to create a 1-2 punch that Georgia was missing from their pitching depth last season.
“Her [Walters] ability to command the ball, challenge hitters, allows our defense to play well behind her. You know, I think our pitching and defense is what allowed us to be successful Thursday night against Central Florida, she just really commanded the circle, kept our defense in the game and they made plays behind her,” Baldwin said.
Georgia will welcome St. John’s, Charlotte, and Stanford this weekend, Feb 17-19, at Jack Turner Softball Stadium. The Bulldogs will no doubt be handing the ball to Walters or Kerpics to start off the showcase against No. 17 Stanford at 3:30 p.m. on Friday.
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