BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Union County High School had eight softball players earn all-area recognition with the release of the Gainesville Sun’s All-Area, the Florida Times-Union’s All-First Coast and the Main Street Daily News-Bosshardt Realty All-Area teams.
Honorees also included six from Bradford and two from Keystone Heights.
Union junior second baseman Leanne Dicks was a Gainesville Sun Small-School All-Area first-team selection. She batted .462 (third on the team) and had 27 RBI (second on the team).
Two of Dicks’ teammates earned Gainesville Sun Small-School second-team honors as infielders: senior shortstop Mackenzie Orton and freshman infielder/outfielder Courtney Manning.
Manning led the team with a .522 batting average and 10 doubles. She was third on the team in RBI with 26.
Orton led the team in RBI with 28 and home runs with three. She was fourth with a batting average of .333.
Union sophomore outfielder Emma Handley was a third-team All-First Coast selection after batting .464, which was second best on the team. She also had 17 RBI.
Dicks, Manning and Orton earned All-First Coast honorable mention.
Bradford junior catcher Addyson Hinds and Keystone junior pitcher/infielder Kadence Massey earned All-First Coast honorable mention as well.
The Mainstreet Daily News-Bosshardt Realty Small-School All-Area Team included Dicks, Handley and Manning, while the following Union players earned honorable mention: Orton, sophomore outfielder Jaydin Alvarez, senior pitcher Shyla Crowe, sophomore third baseman Brooke Hunt and senior catcher Campbell Webb.
Six Bradford players earned Mainstreet Daily News-Bosshardt Realty Big-School honorable mention: Hinds, freshman outfielder Regan Adams, freshman infielder Taryn Flowers, freshman outfielder Kingslee Phillips, senior outfielder Amber Wynn and senior shortstop/pitcher Keegan Yowell.
Keystone’s Massey earned Big-School honorable mention along with teammate Amber Wagner, a junior catcher.
