Florida High's Beachum, Lincoln's McGinnis All-Big Bend softball Player, Pitcher of the Year; Gilliam Coach of the Year

2022 All-Big Bend Softball Pitcher of the Year: Gwen McGinnis, Lincoln

For the past two seasons, Lincoln's Gwen McGinnis has dominated the circle.

Last spring, she picked up All-Big Bend Pitcher of the Year honors, pitching 141.2 innings and striking out over 242 batters, helping her team to an appearance in the regional championship game. This season, being the veteran in a younger group of players, things started off rough.

The Trojans were 6-6 heading into April on a four-game skid. However, in a 6-0 win over Madison County, something clicked for Lincoln, and it never looked back. Led off by the red hot arm of McGinnis, the Trojans went 11-3 to the end of the season, winning a district title and making an appearance in the regional championship game once again.

McGinnis was the central piece to Lincoln's success as she not only put up elite pitching numbers but found a way to break her stat lines from last season. She pitched 157.2, allowing 46 runs on 91 hits, and striking out a whopping 301 batters. McGinnis' senior year performance has once again earned her All-Big Bend Softball Pitcher of the Year honors.

"It's an honor to get recognized for anything and two years in a row is really great," McGinnis said. "This year started out a little rough, but once we were able to put trust in each other and focus on the game, and our end goal, we were able to string it all together."

McGinnis owned the strike zone this season, holding an ERA of 1.24 and finishing with 20 double-digit strikeout performances. To add to that, she had three games where she struck out over 20 batters, including a career-high 23 in her final game against Middleburg.

Lincoln had a thrilling postseason run. It went eight innings with Ponte Vedra in regional quarterfinals, winning 1-0 on a walk-off, and the regional championship game was decided by one run over 13 innings. McGinnis was focused on winning every game, but knowing her Lincoln career was coming to an end, she wanted to create excitement for the program when she was gone.

"I was just staying motivated in those games," McGinnis said. "I was super proud of how far we had already gotten, and I knew if we made it even further people would get excited about our team. I was thinking that maybe even after I left they could say excited and we could continue what we started."

McGinnis's softball days aren't over just yet as she'll be heading to the University of Tampa in the fall, playing with the Spartans and studying physical therapy. She's looking forward to a new environment and working with new players and coaches. There is the possibility for McGinnis to have a homecoming of sorts as UTampa occasionally plays Valdosta State.

Looking back at her days on Trojans Trail, McGinnis said that it was an important part of her growth as a player.

"It was important in developing into a strong player, not just physically, but mentally," McGinnis said. "Coach T really helped me through a lot of the things you need to do in order to be better."

2022 All-Big Bend Softball Player of the Year: Jaysoni Beachum, Florida High

This spring was a long, but rewarding one for Florida High's Jaysoni Beachum. After receiving an offer from Florida State, and committing to the Seminoles, Beachum and her family moved an hour and a half southeast from Dothan, Alabama to Tallahassee.

Wanting to get in the Florida State pipeline early on, Beachum enrolled at Florida High. As a sophomore a Houston Academy, she was already putting up impressive numbers before arriving to Southwood. Picking up the nickname "Bash Em' Beachum", she hit 19 home runs and brought in 68, earning her Class 3A Hitter of the Year honors from the Alabama Sports Writers Association.

Coming to a new state and a new team, Beachum didn't flinch when it came to her performance at the plate. Centralizing the Seminoles' offense, the third baseman boasted a .507 average, bringing in 36 runs off of 35 hits and bashing the ball over the fence 12 times.

Beachum's Big Bend and Florida debut has earned her All-Big Bend Softball Player of the Year honors.

"It feels pretty good to move in here, but my team helped me make the great transition here," Beachum said. "I couldn't have done it without them."

Beachum credits a lot of her success this season to how quickly her teammates welcomed her. There were nerves that the transition was going to be a little rough, but Beachum fit right into the Seminoles lineup. 11 games into the season, she had already recorded seven home runs.

"For a new player, I thought it would be a lot harder to adjust, but it wasn't for me," Beachum said. "Coach Brittany and the team were very welcoming and very kind. They made me feel like I've been there for the past 10 years. It was very easy to play the game of softball that I love."

When it comes to "bashing" the ball, Beachum said that a lot of it is the trust that she has in her teammates ahead of her. Those batting before her have shown that they're able to get on base, allowing Beachum to do even more damage when she comes up to bat. She doesn't feel pressured to hit a home run every at-bat cause she knows that the girls behind her can bring her in as well.

Another big plus in moving to the city where she's planning on playing college ball is that she's able to make the short trip over to Joanne Graf Field on the weekends.

"In Dothan, you're only able to watch it on TV, which is still cool, but begin able to watch it at the game is pretty amazing," Beachum said. "The atmosphere is just so electric."

Beachum's bat was a part of the success Florida High achieved this season, going 21-4 and cementing themselves as one of the top teams in 3A all season. With one more year left, the sky is the limit.

"This season really showed that we have the chance to have a good run in the future," Beachum said. "Next year, we're going to go even further knowing that we're capable of the things that we did this year."

2022 All-Big Bend Softball Coach of the Year: Brittany Gilliam, Florida High 

Typically with a head coaching change following an 18-6 season, there's a little fall off. Getting adjusted to new leadership, players stepping up into new positions, and so on. However, at Florida High, things only got better.

After spending some time at Chiefland as the head volleyball coach and assistant softball coach, Florida High head coach Brittany Gilliam made the move up to Tallahassee to coach the Seminoles. It was her first head softball coaching gig and in a higher classification. However, things couldn't have started off better.

The Seminoles opened up the season on 11 games winning streak, instantly jumping out as one of the top teams not just in 3A, but the entire state. Only losing to Lincoln, Florida High was nearly flawless against Big Bend competition and made a run in the postseason to the district title game.

The Seminoles fell short of a district title but made a run to regional semifinals before losing to Baldwin again. The Indians went on to win the 3A state championship. When the dust finally settled, Florida High amounted a 21-4 record, the best in the Big Bend and the best record in the program in over a decade.

Florida High's red-hot season has recognized head coach Brittany Gilliam as All-Big Bend Softball Coach of the Year.

"This is definitely an honor in my first year coaching," Gilliam said. "I've been blessed with a great group of girls and they've made me look good. They go out there and show off their skills, and I just provide coaching through my own experience. I coach the mental game a lot because the talent is there."

Florida High led the area in All-Big Bend honors with eight different players cracking the list. Junior third baseman Jaysoni Beachum was named All-Big Bend Player of the Year and shortstop Madelyn Mayo also earned all-first team honors.

The Seminoles' offense was what really allowed them to thrive this season. Florida High 226 hits, 77 above the national average, and scored 211 runs, 82 above the national average. They weren't afraid to put some force behind the ball as they 34 home runs, to the national average of eight.

"Working at a school at Florida High, there's just so much depth in each area," Gilliam said. "Middles school JV and varsity just seemed to flourish. There's just a good pool of kids to coach and it's just a blessing to have that. People want to come and play at a school like this."

There's been an incentive this season by the Seminoles to want to get better. Gilliam said her team has asked for more reps, to stay longer into practice, and just driving to get better game in and game out. A few girls players used their gym time to get softball reps in, go to practice later, and then go to Powermill Training Academy to get even more reps in.

The results showed on the field as Florida High quickly became a power in the region, and is still on the rise. The Seminoles graduated only four players and are bringing back Beachum and their entire pitching core. After a season like they had, they're ready to blow things open next spring.

"I've got five juniors returning and only a couple starting positions that we have to fill," Gilliam said. "That's only going to make people work harder for those few spots because they know the roster that we have. We're going to be in the same spot, but only room to get better. I think it's just going to make us work harder."

Jack Williams covers prep sports for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @jackgwilliams. 

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: ALL-BIG BEND: Florida High's Beachum, Lincoln's McGinnis softball Player, Pitcher of the Year