Lightbody named Southern Conference Player of the Year
Eastern Florida State College right fielder Lauren Lightbody became the third Titans softball player to be named the Southern Conference Player of the Year in the past 12 years.
The freshman from Tampa joins Nikki Pennington in 2019 and Cassie Boggs who was named Player of the Year in both 2012 and 2013.
"Honestly it was very surprising when I first heard if, but I felt like I had worked hard and had a good season," Lightbody said. "Just to hear coach tell me that, I just thought, wow I really did it!"
Lightbody has been doing it all season for the Titans, hitting .481 heading into Saturday's final doubleheader of the season against Miami Dade at Titan Softball Complex on the Melbourne campus.
"I came into the season with the mindset that this is my last season so I have to put everything I have into it and I worked my butt off all season so to hear that I am the Player of the Year, it makes me proud I was able to achieve something like that," Lightbody said. "I wasn't aiming to hit close to .500 this season but once I started playing games and saw how I was able to hit, I kept working to get as high as I could."
The .481 batting average is the second-best in the past decade of Titans softball. Cassie Boggs hit .483 in 2013 and Nikki Pennington hit .480 in 2019.
Lightbody is one of five players that made the first team all-Southern Conference team, joining Kayla Domon, Meritxell Blesa, Trinity Howard and Jaydah Stroup.
The Titans will wrap up the regular season at Titan Softball Complex on Saturday against Miami Dade with the doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
VIDEO: Earlier this season we sat down with Lauren to talk about softball and more.