ASWA: Softball Player Addie Edward Named the Alabama Community College Athlete of the Year

Addie Edwards made quite the impression in her first season as a member of the Northeast Alabama Community College softball team. And not just with her teammates.

The Chatsworth, Ga., native stepped immediately into the No. 1 starter role on the Mustangs’ pitching staff and proved she was ready for the designation. Not only did she lead her team to the Alabama Community College Conference championship, the hard-throwing right-hander led Northeast to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I national championship.

Pitching every inning of every game the Mustangs played in the national tournament, Edwards was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. She was also the ACCC’s Pitcher of the Year.

She now adds another title to her collection as the Alabama Sports Writers Association (ASWA) Community College Athlete of the Year. Edwards will be presented with her award at the ASWA’s annual awards banquet at Jacksonville State University on Sunday.

“Addie put together one of the best seasons in junior college history,” Northeast head coach Joe Guthrie said. “She’s one of the most mentally tough pitchers I’ve ever seen.”

Her stats for the season are stellar. Edwards was 34-0 with an earned run average of 1.12 across 211.2 innings pitched. She faced 814 batters, striking out 219 and allowing just 35 walks. She made an appearance in 38 games, producing three saves.

In the national championship tournament, Edwards pitched 33 innings, allowing 27 hits and nine walks while striking out 27 of the 112 batters she faced. She threw 493 pitches in the tournament.

“It's been really amazing,” the freshman said of the season. “Coming from a background of winning in a high school (Heritage High School), I wanted to come in here and help this team come from a losing record, as everybody knows, to a winning record and help start the program and just really winning it. Staying to the last day of the tournament and winning, it just makes you feel really accomplished. Knowing that I did it for the sophomores, or I helped do it for the sophomores, it just felt great, and knowing that this whole team, we really did deserve it as a whole team. We worked so hard in our practices, and we took each game one at a time. Each time we kept winning, we just got more confident. It just helped us eventually win in the end.”

Edwards said being called on to pitch every inning of the tournament is a challenge she has faced in the past.

“I have a background of throwing many, many innings, so I knew that I could do it,” she said. “Just pushing myself and telling myself I wasn't tired really helped me finish. I knew if I did end up getting tired, I had a pitching staff behind me that could help finish. And having my defense behind me helped me not throw as many pitches. They made amazing plays. But, again, I came from a background of pitching a lot, so my endurance was just up there. … I never really got tired until the games were over. I just knew I had to push through and that if I didn't think I was tired, I wouldn't be tired.”

She said she is pleased to win the ASWA Community College Athlete of the Year award.

“It means a lot, especially knowing that my little self would be so proud of me because for a while there when I was beginning as a pitcher, nobody really believed in me because I was tiny and I used to have a really bad attitude,” she said. “But if I was to look at my younger self and say that I've accomplished this award, I think she'd be so proud and be like, you know, that's amazing. It just feels great knowing that I got this award.”

This weekend’s Alabama Sports Writers Association annual convention is presented by ALFA Insurance, the Mobile Sports Authority, the Panini Senior Bowl, the Paul W. Bryant Museum, the Alabama High School Athletic Association and Jacksonville State University.

— Story by Tommy Hicks, Lagniappe

Community College Athlete of the Year

2025 Addie Edwards
2024 Jabe Boroff
2024 Sheldon Williams
2023 Kade Snell
2022 Felicity Frame
2020 Hayden Carner
2019 Imari Martin
2018 Demarkus Lampley
2017 Cierra Johnson
2016 Jackson Hesterlee
2015 Courtney Shields
2014 Rachel Ragland
2013 Courtney Shields
2012 John Michael O'Toole
2011 Sean Hiller
2010 Sarah Weldemann
2009 Wes Cook
2008 Zach Primavera
2007 Jennifer Sexton
2006 Cory Cooperwood
2005 Will Ginn
2004 Blair Potter
2003 Jean Felix
2002 Daniel Hill
2001 Rodney Blas
2000 Becky Stone
1999 Justin Shelwood
1998 Stacey Breeding
1997 Jerome Young
1996 Adrian Pledger
1995 Ricky Collins
1994 Andrew Hunter Harris
1993 Al Dillar
1992 Jana Simmons
1991 Leonard White

Alabama Crimson Tide On SI/BamaCentral is the online home of the Alabama Sports Writers Association.

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Threads, and Blue Sky for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google