The conference champion Jaguars pause for smiles at the national tournament in St. George, Utah. (Photo by Cheryl Romines)

The Georgia Perimeter College Jaguars finished their 2013 softball campaign with a 21-16 record and two major achievements: the conference regular-season title and tournament championship trophy.

As a result, first-year head coach Ken Deyton was named Coach of the Year in a vote by his peers, the coaches of the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association, which is Region 17 of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

“But I want to give the credit where it belongs, and that is to the players,” Deyton said. “They are amazing people, and my prayer is that they learned something participating on the GPC softball team that they can take with them and apply to real life.”

The season wasn’t totally about winning. In fact, the campaign ended for the Jaguars the same way it began.

In February Walters State Community College (Tenn.) came to the GPC Newton Campus for Georgia Perimeter’s season opener and defeated the Jaguars twice in an evening doubleheader.

In May the Walters State Senators handed the Jaguars a 12-4 thumping and eliminated them from the NJCAA tournament in St. George, Utah.

Achievements were rampant, however. Freshman ace Lyndsey Parden, who pitched two no-hitters during the season, was selected to the All-Region 17 first team and named Most Valuable Player of the conference tournament.

Two freshman teammates—pitcher Jenna Carr and catcher Maegan Coddington—earned spots on the all-region second team.

Jaguar co-captains Madison Case and Samantha Maycock, both sophomores, also won second-team honors. Furthermore, Case and Maycock were named to the NJCAA softball Academic All-America team.

Sophomores Jessie Romines and Savannah Cook and freshman Abby Hulsey joined Parden on the GCAA all-tournament team.

The Jaguars won the GCAA regular-season championship with a 13-3 conference record and then stormed through the tournament with three convincing victories, all pitched by Parden.

In the championship game, Parden tossed her fourth shutout of the season, a 4-0 victory, holding hard-hitting Middle Georgia State College to five hits. Meanwhile, the Jaguar batters produced 12 hits—four extra-base hits—and assorted defensive highlights to win the championship.

“I told them prior to the game that all the work they had put in … came down to today’s championship game, so don’t give it away, but take it,” Deyton said.

“Those words didn’t compare to the determination in their eyes. I knew I was in the company of region champions before the game started.”

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