February 6, 2010
Softball: Gulf Coast splits with West Florida
NEWS HERALD (By Brad Milner ) - PANAMA CITY — Gulf Coast showed it could pick itself off the canvas on Saturday. The Lady Commodores were what Coach Susan Painter called “flat” in a 6-0 loss to the University of West Florida to open a softball doubleheader at Joe Tom King Field. They responded with a late-inning 3-2 win in Game 2 to salvage a split. Gulf Coast was held to one hit, by Megann Sallinger, in Game 1. The Lady Commodores made three errors and West Florida, an NCAA Division II team, scored all of its runs with two outs.
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February 2, 2010
Softball: Painter satisfied with opening tournament
NEWS HERALD (By Brad Milner ) - PANAMA CITY — The Gulf Coast softball team couldn’t have started the season much better. The Lady Commodores finished 4-2 in the Juco Kickoff event in Clearwater last weekend. A 6-0 record would have been an improvement, but Coach Susan Painter said there were many positive signs moving forward. Gulf Coast followed Friday’s two wins with two more on Saturday before a loss to Santa Fe. The Lady Commodores also lost to Florida Community College-Jacksonville on Sunday, with both defeats presenting opportunities to win.
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January 30, 2010
Softball: GC opens season with two wins
NEWS HERALD (By Brad Milner ) - CLEARWATER — Susan Painter wanted her Gulf Coast softball team to have a fast start to the season and that’s exactly what they gave her. The Lady Commodores defeated Daytona State 12-3 and St. Petersburg 5-1 to open the Juco Kickoff event on Friday. GC (2-0) rapped out 13 hits in the six-inning run-rule rout and had clutch hits and stellar pitching after a turbulent first inning against St. Pete.
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January 28, 2010
Gulf Coast softball eyes climb back to top of mountain
NEWS HERALD (By Brad Milner ) - PANAMA CITY — A second straight trip to the national tournament is on Susan Painter’s mind. But a more pressing goal, and one that can come sooner, is at the forefront. “We want to win the (Panhandle) conference,” the Gulf Coast softball coach said. “We don’t want to rely on somebody else to do the work for us. We need to take the lead and be in it all the way at the top.” It’s been three years since the Lady Commodores won a Panhandle title. The drought is customary for some of the teams in the conference, but not for GC, which has won five crowns, including three straight from 2004-06. It has finished runner-up in each of the past three seasons.
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November 16, 2009
Six GC diamond players sign with four-year schools
NEWS HERALD (By Brad Milner ) - PANAMA CITY — The important decisions are now behind six Gulf Coast athletes. Five Commodore baseball players and one softballer took advantage of the early signing period last week to seal their four-year college futures. Weeks spent fielding offers and hours of recruiting are now over, and they can focus on the spring seasons set to begin in less than three months. Andrew Morris, Cam Greathouse, Brady Frey, Jeremy Boyte and Cameron Graves signed from baseball. Andascha Moore-Pryor will move on next fall from the Lady Commodores’ program which played in the NJCAA national tournament last season.
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June 2, 2009
Gulf Coast softball signing class taking shape
NEWS HERALD (Brad Milner ) - PANAMA CITY - Susan Painter has had about two weeks to catch her breath since leading Gulf Coast to the national softball tournament. The pace picks up today with the first of two more signings for the 2009-10 class. The majority of the newcomers have been signed. Painter aims to bring in two or three more players before fall practices start in three months. Six of the team's nine freshmen from last season will return for another national tournament run. The most notable departure is Holmes County product Crystal Thompson. The rising sophomore signed with the University of West Florida in Pensacola, Painter confirmed on Tuesday.
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