ATLANTA - Belhaven University's Allie Gordon has been named the 2023 Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) Softball Player of the Year as the conference released it's regular season awards and all-sportsmanship team today. Gordon helped lead the Blazers to the CCS regular season title and a spot in this weekend's CCS Championship Series. 

Joining Gordon as CCS major award winners were her teammate Kennedy Carruth, who was named the conference's Pitcher of the Year and her coach, Kevin Griffin, who was selected as the CCS Coach of the Year. Also, recognized were Huntingdon's Maddy Grace Hubbard and LaGrange's Claire Chamberlain, who were named CCS Rookie Player and Rookie Pitcher of the Year, respectively. 

Huntingdon led the way with four student-athletes named First Team All-Conference, while Maryville had three selected. Belhaven and Piedmont each had two first team selections.  

The awards were selected and decided upon following a vote by the conference's head coaches. 

CCS Player of the Year | Allie Gordon, Belhaven
Gordon was named the Conference Player of the Year as she is currently in the midst of a remarkable season. The junior third basemen is currently hitting .472 with 10 home runs and 42 runs driven in. She has a slugging percentage of .894 and is among the conference's leaders in virtually every statistical category.

She helped lead the Blazers to the CCS Regular Season title and the top seed in the CCS Championship. Gordon was selected as the CCS Player of the Week twice during the season and broke the Belhaven program record with her 34th career home run recently. She was also named a First Team All-Conference selection. 

CCS Pitcher of the Year | Kennedy Carruth, Belhaven
The junior has had another tremendous year for the Blazers on her way to being named the CCS Pitcher of the Year. She's currently 15-4 with a sparkling 0.93 ERA on the season as Belhaven prepares for this weekend's CCS Championship series where they will play host to Maryville. So far this season, Carruth has worked 127.2 innings, while allowing just 75 hits and 17 earned runs. She has struck out 168 batters, which is not only tops in the CCS, but is among the nation's leaders as well. Carruth was five-time CCS Pitcher of the Week selection and was also a First Team All-Conference selection. 

CCS Rookie Player of the Year | Maddy Grace Hubbard, Huntingdon
Hubbard had an immediate impact in her first year for the Hawks as she helped lead them to a 31-win campaign. The first-year student-athlete from South Pittsburg, Tennessee hit .461 and drove in 23 runs for Huntingdon. Appearing in every game for Huntingdon, she scored 40 runs and posted a .552 on base percentage. The third basemen was also named a Second Team All-Conference selection in her first year in the CCS. 

CCS Rookie Pitcher of the Year | Claire Chamberlain, LaGrange 
Chamberlain was outstanding for LaGrange in her first year on campus. The talented freshman was a four-time Rookie of the Week selection, and earned CCS Pitcher of the Week twice. She posted a 10-10 record in the circle for the Panthers, and had 13 complete games and also registered one save during the season. Her 3.42 ERA was among the CCS's best and she also struck out 88 in 122.2 innings of work. 

CCS Coach of the Year | Kevin Griffin, Belhaven 
Griffin has been named the CCS Coach of the Year following a vote by the conference's head coaches. He has led the Blazers to a 27-11 mark, while playing one of the toughest schedules in the country. Included in that is a 14-2 mark in CCS League play, as the Blazers won the CCS Regular Season title. He'll lead Belhaven into this weekend's championship series looking to claim the conference's first-ever CCS title in the sport. Five of Griffin's student-athletes were named all-conference, including Gordon and Carruth who earned Player and Pitcher of the Year this season. 

Major Award Winners 
CCS Player of the Year - Allie Gordon, Belhaven 
CCS Pitcher of the Year - Kennedy Carruth, Belhaven 
CCS Rookie Player of the Year - Maddie Grace Hubbard, Huntingdon 
CCS Rookie Pitcher of the Year - Claire Chamberlain, LaGrange 
CCS Coach of the Year - Kevin Griffin, Belhaven 

CCS First Team All-Conference Selections
C - Sara Koonce, Maryville 
1B - Bailey Murphy, Huntingdon 
2B - Brooke Stefankiewicz, Huntingdon
SS - Jordan Holman, Huntingdon
3B - Allie Gordon, Belhaven 
OF - Vanessa Davis, Covenant
OF - Natalie Richey, Huntingdon 
OF - Jenica Brown, Maryville
DP - Madison Henry, Piedmont 
UTIL - Jasmine Lowery, Piedmont 
P - Kennedy Carruth, Belhaven 
P - Megan Ackerman, Maryville 
At-Large - Katelyn Minnihan, LaGrange

CCS Second Team All-Conference Selections
C - Miranda Treadway, Huntingdon 
1B - Ellie Jones, Belhaven 
2B - Lyndzi Partlow, Piedmont 
SS - Bailey Myers, Maryville 
3B - Maddie Grace Hubbard, Huntingdon 
OF - Madi Miller, Belhaven
OF - Taylor Murdock, Covenant 
OF - Kennedy Votava, Piedmont
DP - Elli Lorance, Huntingdon 
UTIL - Kilee Thomas, Agnes Scott 
P - Natalie Parker, Belhaven 
P - Crimson Wells, Huntingdon
At-Large - Riley Rudick, Huntingdon 

CCS All-Sportsmanship Team
Giselle Elizondo, Agnes Scott
Jordan Kanpie, Belhaven
Julian Kirby, Berea
Jennifer Coates, Covenant
Emma Spurlin, Huntingdon
Jaiden Gay, LaGrange
Maya St. John, Maryville
Emma McBrayer, Piedmont
Presly Edwards, Wesleyan

ABOUT THE COLLEGIATE CONFERENCE OF THE SOUTH
The CCS is an NCAA Division III athletic conference that began play during the 2022-23 academic year. The conference features nine members and sponsors championships across 14 sports. In addition to sharing the member institutions' geographic identity, the name 'Collegiate Conference of the South' is indicative of a shared commitment to academic excellence, which is commensurate with the NCAA Division III philosophy.

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