Wingate’s Savanna Brooks was selected as the South Atlantic Conference Varsity Gems Softball Player of the Week, while Lenoir-Rhyne’s Morgan Beeler was named the SAC Varsity Gems Softball Pitcher of the Week for games played during Week 8 of the 2023 season, the conference office announced Tuesday.

Carson-Newman’s Macauley Bailey was selected as the South Atlantic Conference Varsity Gems Softball Player of the Week, while Lenoir-Rhyne’s Morgan Beeler was named the SAC Varsity Gems Softball Pitcher of the Week for games played during Week 7 of the 2023 season, the conference office announced Tuesday.

Carson-Newman’s Macauley Bailey was selected as the South Atlantic Conference Varsity Gems Softball Player of the Week, while Lenoir-Rhyne’s Morgan Beeler was named the SAC Varsity Gems Softball Pitcher of the Week for games played during Week 6 of the 2023 season, the conference office announced Tuesday.

Catawba’s Savanna Balderston was selected as the South Atlantic Conference Varsity Gems Softball Player of the Week, while Coker’s Jenae Fedewa was named the SAC Varsity Gems Softball Pitcher of the Week for games played during Week 3 of the 2023 season, the conference office announced Tuesday.

In most conferences, one team enters the season as the odds-on favorite to win the league’s regular-season title, but in 2023, the South Atlantic League is shaping up to buck that trend on the softball diamond, with four teams tightly bunched at the top, according to the league’s coaches.

While offense has boomed in softball of late, the key to sustained success remains having dominant arms in the circle.