FLORENCE, S.C. - The Peach Belt Conference announced the 2008 softball All-Conference team at a banquet in Florence, S.C. following the first day of play in the PBC Tournament. Georgia College & State University’s Sherquita Bostick was named the PBC Player of the Year while UNC Pembroke’s Martika Elmore was the Pitcher of the Year. North Georgia’s Tiffany Blackburn was tabbed the Freshman of the Year while UNCP’s Steve Johnson was the Coach of the Year.

Bostick becomes the second Lady Bobcat to win PBC Player of the Year honors, joining Keidra Baitey who won in 2006. Bostick hit. 407 for GCSU in 2008, fourth-best in the PBC. She was also third in runs scored, second in hits and triples and third in stolen bases. She also hit .500 against conference opponents and was named PBC Player of the Week on April 7.

Martika Elmore becomes the first UNCP pitcher to be named the Pitcher of the Year. A freshman from Fayetteville, N.C., Elmore was 21-3 with a 1.71 ERA. She was also 9-0 in PBC games with a 1.42 ERA. Elmore had three no-hitters in 2008 and had 10 double-digit strikeout games. She was second overall in the league with 207 strikeouts.

Blackburn hit .456 with 10 home runs and 41 RBIs in her first season at North Georgia. The freshman from Evans, Ga., was one of only four players in the conference to reach double-digit home runs and was second in the league in RBIs. She is the first Lady Saint to win a major softball award since the team joined the Peach Belt in 2006.

Steve Johnson led the UNC Pembroke Lady Braves to their first-ever PBC Regular Season Championship in 2008. Picked eighth in the preseason poll, Johnson and the Lady Braves were 17-1 in the PBC and are the top seed at the tournament. In his sixth year at the helm of the program, he led the UNCP to a school-record 43 wins in 2008 and the team is currently ranked #5 in the nation. Johnson is the first UNC Pembroke softball coach to be named Coach of the Year.

The 2008 All-Conference team is listed below as selected by the league’s head coaches. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players.

2008 Peach Belt Conference
Softball All-Conference Team

Catchers
Ashley Roberts, Augusta State
Jessica Strickland, USC Aiken

Pitchers
Mandy Chandler, GCSU
Martika Elmore, UNC Pembroke
Michaela Wolf, Francis Marion

At-Large Players
Ashley Bain, Armstrong Atlantic State
Jessica Birchmeier, Francis Marion
Sam Floyd, Armstrong Atlantic State
Courtney Hill, UNC Pembroke
Brittany Leverett, Columbus State
Courtney McGuire, North Georgia
Natalie Vogler, Armstrong Atlantic State

Position Players
Brittany Berrier, UNC Pembroke
Tiffany Blackburn, North Georgia
Sherquita Bostick, GCSU
Carrie Jones, Columbus State
Shannan Tyson, Francis Marion
Jelena Shaw, UNC Pembroke
Laura Voyles, North Georgia
Monica Wofford, Francis Marion

Player of the Year: 
Sherquita Bostick, GCSU
Pitcher of the Year: 
Martika Elmore, UNC Pembroke
Freshman of the Year: 
Tiffany Blackburn, North Georgia
Coach of the Year: 
Steve Johnson, UNC Pembroke