Georgetown’s James cements softball legacy, shifts focus to career
Anna James is going out with plenty of positive vibes.
Even before her spectacular senior season, the Georgetown pitcher had informed her coach and those in the college ranks that recruiting her would be time wasted. She’s headed to Francis Marion with her heart set on a career in nursing.
Softball, as much as it has meant to her, wasn’t meant to be.
“It has always been my dream to play college ball,” said James, the Toast of the Coast Softball Player of the Year. “But in the middle of last year, I decided I wanted to be a nurse. All of my energy needs to go into that. I’m not the type to start and then quit. If I get into the nursing program, I need to do that.”
The decision to abandon the sport wasn’t easy. She also admitted it was harder after the type of career she had with the Bulldogs. The team’s primary pitcher the last two seasons led Georgetown to a pair of Region VII-AAA titles.
This spring, she was 9-1 in the division and had an overall ERA of 0.82 while striking out 98 hitters.
Those numbers were even more impressive given that she wasn’t really a pitcher until the second half of high school.
“She’s a big-time athlete,” coach Whitney Ramsing said. “But when she stepped on the mound, she kind of pushed her way through. We worked a little during the summer (prior to her junior year), but I don’t think she ever took it serious that we needed her to pitch. Anna’s just one of those natural-born talents. I could have probably told her she was going to play right field and she would have done it well.”
James earned first-team all-region honors as a pitcher both seasons she toed the rubber. But she was no slouch at the plate either. She finished with a .379 average this year with 11 extra-base hits and 16 RBIs after batting north of .400 with 15 extra-base hits last year.
The Bulldogs rolled some of that momentum she helped create into the playoffs, where they reached the district finals both years. Georgetown wasn’t able to punch through to the Lower State tournament, but walking away with a pair of region championships against the likes of North Myrtle Beach and St. James was fulfilling in many ways.
“Winning against them has meant a lot to us,” James said. “It meant we were on top of our game. When we played them, all the nerves came out. But it meant a lot, especially two years in a row.”
Barring a last-minute change of heart, those will be some of the best memories James carries into her post-softball life. She side-stepped college interest from at least two schools, and rarely entertained the idea throughout what would be her final year in the sport.
Instead, James elected to hang up the uniform in pursuit of scrubs. In her mind, she had achieved enough on the diamond.
“It blows my mind,” Ramsing said. “I wish I could convince her. But she’s career ready.”
Ian Guerin: ian@ianguerin.com, @iguerin
The team
Player of the Year
Anna James
School: Georgetown
Class: Senior
Position: Pitcher
Notable: Batted .379 with seven doubles, three triples and a home run while putting up 16 RBIs. Defensively, the Class AAA All-State selection had an ERA of 0.82 and struck out 98 batters while recording wins in nine region games.
Kelsi Bachmann
School: St. James
Class: Senior
Position: Center field
Notable: Region VII-AAA Player of the Year led the area with a .578 batting average while scoring 40 runs. Stole 34 bases and did not commit an error from her spot in center field.
Leah Belack
School: Myrtle Beach
Class: Junior
Position: Outfield/shortstop
Notable: Seahawk batted .460 and had and on-base percentage of .526 for the season while recording 23 runs and 16 RBIs. Named to the All-Region VII-AAA first team.
Morgan Compton
School: Myrtle Beach
Class: Senior
Position: Second base/first base/catcher
Notable: North-South All-Star selection batted .364 and led the Seahawks with 31 RBIs. Also scored 18 runs and added a pair of homers en route to all-region honors.
Brooke Elliott
School: Aynor
Class: Junior
Position: Pitcher/third base/shortstop
Notable: Led Blue Jackets back to the Class AA Lower State tournament by batting .577 with 10 home runs, four doubles, two triples and and 31 RBIs.
Myatt Hardwick
School: North Myrtle Beach
Class: Junior
Position: Catcher
Notable: Class AAA All-State selection hit .452 with 26 RBIs and three home runs while also picking off 15 base runners and gunning down four more attempting to steal.
Haley Haselden
School: Carvers Bay
Class: Junior
Position: Pitcher
Notable: In 162 innings on the rubber, struck out 249 batters and finished with an ERA of 0.50. Offensively, she hit .344 with 15 home runs, two triples, six doubles and 54 RBIs.
Janecia Hemingway
School: Conway
Class: Sophomore
Position: First base/pitcher
Notable: Class AAAA All-State honoree led the team with seven victories from the pitching rubber while also contributing 18 runs, 15 RBIs and four home runs offensively.
Chelsea Mitchell
School: Conway
Class: Junior
Position: First base/pitcher
Notable: Helped Tigers back to the Class AAAA playoffs for the fourth consecutive season by batting .406 with two home runs, 20 RBIs and 14 runs scored.
Regan Urbaniak
School: North Myrtle Beach
Class: Sophomore
Position: Outfield/second base
Notable: Helped the Chiefs to a second-place finish in Region VII-AAA by hitting .407. First-team all-region selection had a team-high 31 runs scored and recorded 16 RBIs.
Ali Valcourt
School: St. James
Class: Senior
Position: First base
Notable: All-Region VII-AAA selection put up eight doubles, a triple and a home run while batting .492 and recording 25 RBIs and 12 runs scored.
Kirsten Vause
School: Georgetown
Class: Junior
Position: Catcher
Notable: Piled up 35 RBIs while hitting seven doubles, six triples and two home runs with a .491 batting average. Also picked off or caught stealing six combined base runners.
Coach of the Year
Al Hutchinson
School: Georgetown (2005-2013)
Notable: Hutchinson, who passed away in May, had a lasting impact on coaches and players in the area well after his retirement from coaching. His memory goes beyond his four Lower State qualifying teams or stints with the school’s soccer or football programs.
“Al’s teams have always shown class, perseverance and a winning desire.” – Mike Skipper, Conway
“Hutch always had his girls prepared to play. He knew exactly which buttons to push. He was always so even-keeled. That’s the one thing I always admired about Hutch and the thing I miss the most about coaching against him – he was so cool on the the field.” – Adam Jones, St. James
“He was a mentor and friend to me. He believed in me as a young coach and did all that he could to prepare me to take over the program after he retired. His humor and sarcasm kept a smile on my face. He loved the softball girls.” – Whitney Ramsing, Georgetown
This story was originally published June 18, 2016 at 4:29 PM with the headline "Georgetown’s James cements softball legacy, shifts focus to career."