GMC News

3 GMC Prep Lady Dogs softball players earn All-State honors

Keith Jump
The Union-Recorder

With the success of the 2009 Georgia Military Prep Lady Bulldogs softball team, it should come as no surprise that they had three players named to the All-State Team.

Kaylee Fuller, Lauryn Dennard and Kaylee Johnson each received recognition for their accomplishments throughout the season. Fuller was named as a First Team selection as an outfielder, and to top it off she was the top overall vote getter among outfielders.

Over the years, Fuller became a slick outfielder and could glide from side to side and make even the most difficult plays seem simple. She used both technique and speed to puzzle opposing batters and coaches with her ability to be at the right place at the right time.

Fuller was also a force at the plate and hit a mammoth shot at Couch Field earlier this year that folks are still talking about.

Dennard was named as a Second Team catcher, missing the First Team by only one point. Dennard was the type of player that coach Garry Couch never worried about making the play at the plate, cutting down a runner trying to score.

Also, her pitchers always knew she would be in control behind the batter and in front of the umpire.

Dennard was an expert at gunning out runners trying to steal and wouldn’t let many passed balls get by her. Her speed allowed her to turn a single into a double or a double into a triple. She was also a master with the bat in her hands also. Dennard would only need the smallest of spaces to find an area to put a clean hit that would start her team on a scoring run.

Johnson, the third baseman of the team, received honorable mention as an infielder. While manning the “hot corner” she was a mixture of both Brooks Robinson of old and Chipper Jones.

Johnson was one of the slickest fielders at any classification and able to make plays either right at her or making a backhanded play and throwing a laser to cut down the opposition at first base.

But one of her greatest qualities as a fielder was her ability to charge on a bunt and be able to either take the ball almost off the bat or field it with precision — always making the right decision on the base to go to.

Kaylee Johnson was another player who could handle the bat and either hit for average or hit a base-clearing blast.

“I am very proud of all three of them, as I am my whole team — but these young ladies were voted this honor and they deserve it,” said Couch. “For years they have been part of the backbone of this team, and we are going to miss them. They are going to be hard to replace, but they have also helped teach the ladies coming in behind them — so that shows what type girls they are.”