Junior pitcher Lauren Mathis of West Orange High School has been named the Florida Dairy Farmers 2016 Miss Softball following a final round of voting by a statewide panel of high school softball coaches and media representatives.
Mathis, who has committed to play college softball at the University Georgia, paced her squad to the 2016 Class 9A state title with a sparkling 25-1 record while posting an amazing 0.15 earned run average. She struck out 272 batters in 138 innings while allowing just three earned runs and 36 hits. Mathis dominated her opponents in the state Final Four, allowing only five hits, no earned runs and striking out 26 batters in 13 innings pitched.
Mathis, who previously was selected as the Class 9A Player of the Year, tallied 164 points and garnered eight of the 18 first-place votes to edge out Class 7A POY Katie Chronister of Gainesville, who also had eight first-place votes, but finished with 158 points. Finishing in third was Class 5A POY Allison Muraskin of Coral Springs Charter with 123 points followed by Class 6A POY Madison Canby of Plantation American Heritage (111), Class 3A POY Samantha Holcomb of Rocky Bayou Christian (92) and Class 8A POY Cheyenne Blumberg of Countryside (84). Rounding out the voting were Class 1A POY Lauren Stalvey of Chiefland (75), Class 2A POY Abigail Morgan of Aucilla Christian (74), Class 5A POY Kinsey Glasgow of Jacksonville Episcopal (67) and Independent Class POY Kimberlee Owens of Ocala Westport (35).
The Florida Dairy Farmers High School Sports Awards program exemplifies Florida Dairy Farmers' commitment to the state's youth. This is the 24th year of these unique awards as we honor the state's top athletes and coaches in all 30 FHSAA sanctioned and recognized sports. The program also emphasizes to young people the importance of keeping dairy products a primary part of their diet in their overall nutrition plan.