May 1, 2008
Lady Commodores set for state tournament
News Herald (Brad Milner) - Jill Mathis channeled her inner Yogi Berra when asked what it takes to win games. “The team that scores the most runs will win,” Mathis said. While her statement is simplistic in nature, it speaks to the fiber of Gulf Coast’s potential success or failure in this weekend’s FCCAA Gulf District/NJCAA Region 8 tournament in Auburndale. A long tournament run could come if the Lady Commodores (37-12) perform well at the plate, much like they did in their final doubleheaders. However, swift elimination could be in store if hitting woes return, despite the team having two solid pitchers, including Mathis. GC, ranked sixth in the state and the second-place team from the Panhandle Conference, opens the double-elimination tournament against Hillsborough (30-27), the third seed from the Suncoast Conference, at 1 p.m. CDT on Friday.

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State Tournament - Gulf District
State Tournament - Atlantic District

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April 18, 2008
Lady Commodores fall one win short of title
News Herald (Brad Milner) - Gulf Coast’s emotional effort to claim the Panhandle Conference softball championship came up just shy on Thursday. Chipola College split a conference doubleheader against homestanding GC, losing the first game 3-0 and winning the second 5-3 at Joe Tom King Field. The split secured the conference title for the Lady Indians (40-10, 16-4) for the second straight year. The Lady Commodores (37-12, 14-6) needed a win in Game 2 to clinch a share of the title and to secure the conference’s top seed in the state tournament. GC coach Susan Painter said the two games were the best the team has played this season. The intensity level was higher and the Lady Commodores were more charged than ever against their chief rival.
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April 16, 2008
GC splits with Tallahassee
News Herald (Brad Milner) - Winning pitcher Alanna Hadley’s grand-slam home run capped a first-game comeback, but Gulf Coast was unable to hit in the clutch consistently in splitting a Panhandle Conference softball doubleheader Tuesday with Tallahassee. Gulf Coast won the first game 5-1 in eight innings and dropped the nightcap 2-0. The Lady Commodores, two games out of first place following a Chipola sweep of Okaloosa-Walton, are 13-5, 36-11 overall. Chipola has a 15-3 conference record. Gulf Coast coach Susan Painter said the Lady Commodores stranded 13 baserunners through six innings of the opener, and that theme carried over.
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April 13, 2008
GC softball earns sweep
News Herald (Brad Milner) - What started out as another lackluster performance transformed into something much more pleasing to Gulf Coast softball coach Susan Painter. GC muddled through the first game of a Panhandle Conference doubleheader against homestanding Okaloosa-Walton on Saturday before displaying the hitting prowess Painter knows will be needed to compete in the state tournament. The Lady Commodores (35-10, 12-4) won the first game 2-1 and recorded 15 hits in a 9-0 bludgeoning in Game 2. The victories clinched a berth for GC in the FCCAA Gulf District/NJCAA Region 8 tournament, and moved it into a tie for first place with Chipola. “The gates opened up for us,” Painter said. “We just played well. It was good to see.” In Game 1, Jessica Swanson scored on a throwing error in the third inning and winning pitcher Alanna Hadley drove in Amanda Byers in the sixth.
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April 11, 2008
GC split disappointing
News Herald (Brad Milner) - There comes a time in a season where a team decides whether a slump becomes a routine. That time is quickly approaching for the Gulf Coast softball team, if it’s not here already. Gulf Coast split a Panhandle Conference doubleheader with Pensacola on Thursday, winning the first game 4-1 but slumping back to its struggles in a 3-0 loss in the nightcap. It was the fourth time this season GC was shut out, and the first in conference play. GC coach Susan Painter saw signs of what she called “a fire on offense” at the end of Game 1. She was hoping for a carryover, but instead was treated to a key baserunning blunder and nine stranded runners in Game 2.
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April 9, 2008
Lady Commodores claim pair from Sentinels
News Herald (Brad Milner) - Sometimes, the facts mask the truth. In Gulf Coast’s case, a 9-3 Panhandle Conference record following a 3-0, 5-3 sweep of North Florida on Tuesday may point to yet another stellar season. However, the fact is, GC needed to rally in the second game against a North Florida team languishing in the basement at 15-28, 1-11. And hitting woes prevailed again for GC in the twinbill played at Joe Tom King Field. “We’re struggling right now, there’s no doubt about that,” GC coach Susan Painter said. “We’re still searching for that spark, that fire. “I think it’s a bonus that we’re sitting at 9-3. We’re trying to get through it, and all teams have points like this, so we just need to come out of it.”
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April 3, 2008
Chipola sweeps GCCC
News Herald (Brad Milner) - The battle for first place in the Panhandle Conference softball standings went the way of the defending national champion Lady Indians, as they swept visiting Gulf Coast 2-1, 3-1 on Wednesday. The Lady Commodores missed out on a perfect opportunity to move three games ahead of Chipola. Instead, GC dropped to 30-9, 7-3 in the conference. Chipola is now 32-8, 8-2 and holds a one-game lead at the midway point in the conference season.
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March 30, 2008
GCCC splits, stays in first
News Herald (Brad Milner) - The harsh lesson Gulf Coast learned about complacency on Saturday was tempered by good news from out West. The Lady Commodores committed four errors in giving away a 3-2, 10-inning decision to Tallahassee in the first game of a Panhandle Conference softball doubleheader. GC rebounded with a 3-2 victory in the nightcap at Joe Tom King Field to improve to 30-7 overall and 7-1 in the conference.
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March 27, 2008
No. 6 GC women sweep Pensacola
News Herald (Brad Milner) - Winning in blowout fashion usually takes little finesse. Winning close games often is more of a fine art. Gulf Coast displayed its masterful brush stroke on Wednesday as the Lady Commodores swept homestanding Pensacola 2-1 and 4-2 in a Panhandle Conference junior college softball doubleheader. GC, ranked sixth in the nation, improved to 29-6, 6-0, while Pensacola dropped to 18-14, 1-5. “These were two good ballgames,” GC coach Susan Painter said. “We will be in a lot of close games and we need to win them, so it was nice to see this.”
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March 22, 2008
GC softball sweeps North Florida
News Herald (Brad Milner) - Gulf Coast swept a softball doubleheader against North Florida on Friday to remain unbeaten in four Panhandle Conference games and tied with Chipola atop the league standings. The Lady Commodores won the first game 11-0 in a game shortened to six innings because of the run rule, and won the second game 5-2. Alanna Hadley (15-4) was the winning pitcher in the first pitching a five-hitter and striking out four. Gulf Coast took an early lead with a two-out, two-run single by Robyn Butler in the top of the first inning.
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March 19, 2008
Gulf Coast sweeps O-W
News Herald (Brad Milner) - Fortunate would be one way to describe how Susan Painter felt after Tuesday. Add relieved and frustrated, and you encapsulate her range of emotions after Gulf Coast’s narrow 4-3, 7-6 doubleheader sweep of visiting Okaloosa-Walton at Joe Tom King Field. It was the Panhandle Conference opener for both teams, and if the two games are any indication the rest of the season might be a bumpy ride. Painter said her young team grew up considerably during the nonconference season. But she admitted that Tuesday was a slight regression, with two critical outfield errors helping lead to six unearned runs.
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March 18, 2008
Gulf Coast looking to reclaim top billing
News Herald (Brad Milner) - The center of the junior college softball universe shifted northward to Marianna last season. Gulf Coast coach Susan Painter hopes it returns to the Lady Commodores’ sphere in 2008. Chipola College’s Panhandle Conference championship in 2007 ended a three-year run at the top for the Lady Commodores (23-6). GC won five of six conference crowns from 2001-2006, and Painter believes her young team is ready to bring the title back to Panama City. The quest begins today in a 4 p.m. doubleheader against Okaloosa-Walton at Joe Tom King Field. It’s the first of 20 Panhandle games that will determine which four of the conference’s six teams advance to the FCCAA Gulf District/NJCAA Region 8 tournament in May.
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March 16, 2008
Softball tourney delayed
News Herald (Brad Milner) - Heavy rains and the threat of tornadoes and hail caused a major delay in the Wallace-Hanceville, Ala., Junior College Invitational softball tournament on Saturday. The schedule was delayed until at least 6 p.m. Saturday night, and the prospect of playing three or four games in a short period of time was enough reason for Gulf Coast to return home early. GC coach Susan Painter said the decision to come back to Panama City relied heavily on the upcoming Panhandle Conference opener on Tuesday. She wanted the Lady Commodores fresh for the opener, rather than fatigued if they had remained in the tournament.
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March 13, 2008
Gulf Coast women sweep Heartland
News Herald (Brad Milner) - Gulf Coast warmed up for the Hanceville tournament this weekend with a doubleheader sweep of Heartland (Illinois) 10-0, 7-2 Wednesday at Joe Tom King Field. The Lady Commodores (21-5) won the opener in five innings as Alanna Hadley (11-4) gave up three hits and struck out four. She was backed by three home runs. Ginny Walsh was 3 for 3 with a two-run homer, Jill Mathis (Marianna) had a three-run shot, Nicole Walker a two-run homer and Karri Bisbee (Rutherford) was 2 for 3. Mathis (7-1) no-hit Heartland through five innings of the nightcap with five strikeouts and Jennifer Cuevas finished. Mathis was 2 for 2, Walsh and Walker 2 for 3 and Bisbee 2 for 4. Hadley had an RBI double and Jessica Swanson knocked in a run. Gulf Coast opens Panhandle Conference play Tuesday against visiting Okaloosa-Walton.
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March 11, 2008
These stats don’t lie: GC doing well
News Herald (Brad Milner) - Baseball and softball are games of numbers. And when you look inside the numbers, they tell you it’s been a pretty good start for Gulf Coast’s diamond clubs. GC’s softball statistics were incomplete on Monday due to problems with the new NJCAA uploading process. GC’s pitching records were accurate however, with freshman Alanna Hadley on top with a 10-4 mark. Marianna’s Jill Mathis is 6-1, Ginny Walsh is 2-0, with her second win coming against Florida Community College-Jacksonville on Saturday, and Jen Cuevas is 1-0. Nonconference season winding down: The Panhandle Conference baseball schedule opens Friday, while softball teams start March 18.
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March 10, 2008
Indian River avenges loss to Gulf Coast
News Herald (Brad Milner) - Indian River spoiled Gulf Coast’s day. The Lady Commodores couldn’t capitalize on the momentum they built over the weekend, as the Pioneers ousted them 5-0 in the NFCA Junior College Leadoff Classic Gold Bracket semifinals Sunday afternoon. Indian River went on to defeat Wallace-Hanceville, Ala., 2-1 in eight innings for the tournament championship. Indian River avenged a 3-0 loss to GC on Thursday at Joe Tom King Field. Alanna Hadley tossed a two-hitter in that victory and did the same on Sunday. However, Indian River’s two hits in the most recent game at Frank Brown Park were costly. Heather Hill’s three-run home run in the bottom of the second inning set the tone. Cindy Cuare, who scored twice, hit a solo homer off Hadley in the sixth to provide the final tally. “We had two emotional wins (Saturday) and had been putting a run together,” GC coach Susan Painter said. “But we just couldn’t get the gates open in this one, and it was just a matter of it not being there.”
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March 9, 2008
GCCC into softball semis
News Herald (Brad Milner) - That’s one Indian down, one angry one to go. Gulf Coast defeated Indian Hills 10-5 in the NFCA Junior College Leadoff Classic Gold Bracket quarterfinals at Frank Brown Park on Saturday. The victory pushed the Lady Commodores (19-4) into today’s noon semifinal game against Indian River, which beat Wallace-Dothan, Ala., 7-2. Indian River undoubtedly is smarting from a 3-0 loss against GC on Thursday. Its players and coaches spent more than an hour in the outfield at Joe Tom King Field after the game going over what went wrong. Gulf Coast’s fierce intrastate rival since has outscored its opponents 48-2 in the tournament. Alanna Hadley, who held Indian River to two hits with 13 strikeouts, knows today will be a battle.
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March 8, 2008
Doing well in the pool
News Herald (Brad Milner) - Gulf Coast is one win from earning a chance to take the NFCA Junior College Leadoff Classic championship. The Lady Commodores (17-4) defeated Parkland 7-6 and Chattanooga (Tenn.) State 5-4 in pool play at Frank Brown Park on Friday. Gulf Coast plays Florida Community College-Jacksonville today at 10 a.m. in the final pool contest. A victory secures first place in the pool and a spot in the eight-team Gold Bracket, where GC will need three tournament title. more wins for a GC’s road to a 2-0 start in the event was as treacherous as the scores might indicate. The Lady Commodores held a 7-1 lead entering the seventh inning against Parkland. However, the Cobras (1-1) touched GC starter Jill Mathis (Marianna) for five runs and nearly completed a miraculous comeback. Parkland ended Mathis’ no-hit bid with six hits in the frame. Alanna Hadley came on to strike out Kali Haussy with baserunners on first and third to end the game. Mathis (5-1) earned the win after giving up six runs while striking out seven and walking three.
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March 7, 2008
Hadley tosses 2-hitter
News Herald (Brad Milner) - The 17 newcomers on Gulf Coast’s softball roster may not be well versed in history. So here comes a little lesson. Until last season, when Chipola College broke through for the Panhandle Conference’s first fastpitch national championship, the names Gulf Coast and Indian River were at the top of the state’s power rankings. The teams split state championship finals in 2004 and 2006, and GC won later meetings against Indian River in the national tournament. The teams matched up on Thursday at Joe Tom King Field, and the game was filled with every bit as much intensity as the past matchups. This time a dominant performance from Alanna Hadley, who tossed a two-hitter with 13 strikeouts, led GC to a 3-0 victory.
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March 6, 2008
Top juco softball teams hit the Beach
News Herald (Brad Milner) - The National Fastpitch Coaches Association provided a golden parachute when dark news came down for Panama City Beach in 2005. It had just lost out to Plant City in a bid for the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I national softball tournament. The disappointment didn’t have time to sink in, however, as several months earlier, PCB had been awarded a three-year series of the NFCA Leadoff Classic. The NCAA Division III Leadoff Classic took place last year. Junior colleges are featured this year, and the NAIA event takes place in 2009.
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March 2, 2008
GCCC softball tops Lake City
News Herald (Brad Milner) - Amanda Byers homered on the first at-bat of the first game Saturday, and Gulf Coast swept a softball double-header from Lake City 11-1 and 9-2. “She really set the tone,” said Gulf Coast coach Susan Painter. “And we never really stopped after that.” The Lady Commodores (14-3) won the first game in five innings because of the run rule. Alanna Hadley and Robyn Butler also had home runs in that game. Hadley finished with three hits and three RBIs, and also was the winning pitcher. She allowed two hits and no walks in a complete game. She struck out five.
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February 28, 2008
GC softball earns sweep
News Herald (Brad Milner) - The Gulf Coast softball team rallied twice for a junior college doubleheader sweep, 4-3, 8-7, against homestanding Enterprise-Ozark, Ala., on Wednesday. The Lady Commodores improved to 12-3 in their first games since losing 14-1 to Lake Land to punctuate a forgettable weekend. In Game 1, GC trailed 3-0 in the top of the seventh, but solo home runs by Alanna Hadley and Ginny Walsh and a single by Robyn Butler to plate Jessica Swanson tied the contest. Hadley, who struck out 10 for the complete-game victory, drove in Karri Bisbee (Rutherford) for the winning run in the top of the eighth inning.
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February 26, 2008
Humbling day
News Herald (Brad Milner) - Cue the Shirelles. The Gulf Coast softball team was humbled on the second and final day of its Beach Classic on Sunday, losing 4-3 to state rival Manatee and 14-1 to Lake Land at Frank Brown Park. The Lady Commodores (10-3) failed to capitalize on the momentum gained from a 6-5 victory over Chattanooga (Tenn.) State on Saturday, and they are now on their first losing streak of the season. GC looked every bit like a rookie club against Lake Land. But it’s to be expected at times, GC coach Susan Painter said, and like the Shirelles so eloquently put it, “Mama said there’ll be days like this.” “It’s one end of the spectrum to the other,” Painter said. “This is one of those that you just have to put it behind you and move on.”
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February 25, 2008
‘A Reality Check’
News Herald (Brad Milner) - Softball maturity doesn’t come with age. It comes from big-game experience. Gulf Coast displayed much of it Saturday in its fourth annual Beach Classic tournament at Frank Brown Park. The Lady Commodores were 1-1 in tournament games, but it was an impromptu makeup against Chattanooga (Tenn.) State later that drew this quote from Coach Susan Painter. “That’s growing up right there,” Painter said after GC rallied for a 6-5 victory in eight innings. The win came less than two hours after Wallace State-Hanceville (Ala.) beat GC 8-0 to end a nine-game winning streak for the Lady Commodores (10-1). Wallace State (13-3) won more than 60 games last season and advanced to the NJCAA Division I national tournament. “It was definitely a reality check,” Painter said. “But it was something we needed.” Painter said GC was flat on Saturday, but was upbeat against Chattanooga State (13-5), which also advanced to the national tournament. GC held a brief 2-0 lead on a two-run home run by Alanna Hadley in the first inning, but trailed 4-2 entering the top of the seventh.
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February 20, 2008
GCCC sweeps Wallace-Dothan
News Herald (Brad Milner) - Gulf Coast’s competition ramped up on Tuesday, and the Lady Commodores came away with a hard-fought doubleheader sweep of Wallace-Dothan, Ala., at Joe Tom King Field. The Lady Commodores (8-0) defeated the Lady Governors 4-1, 4-3, in what GC coach Susan Painter called a “Panhandle Conference-type atmosphere.” The games were the most competitive for the Lady Commodores in the young season, she said. Alanna Hadley (4-0) kept Wallace off balance with a two-hitter and seven strikeouts in the opener. Ginny Walsh had a single, double and two RBIs to pace GC at the plate. Hadley, Amanda Byers and Rachele Maddox were each 2 for 3 and Karri Bisbee (Rutherford) was 2 for 4.
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February 13, 2008
Lady Commodores pitch another sweep
News Herald (Brad Milner) - Mother Nature provided the kind of adversity Gulf Coast’s young softball team needed at this time of year. Lady Commodores coach Susan Painter welcomed the rain during the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader against Enterprise-Ozark, Ala., at Joe Tom King Field. She knew it was an opportunity to not only battle the elements, but shrug off complacency that pervaded the end of Game 1. The end result was a sweep, with GCCC winning the first game 5-1 and the second 4-0 behind another pair of stellar pitching performances by freshmen Alanna Hadley and Jill Mathis (Marianna).
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February 10, 2008
GC sweep
News Herald (Brad Milner) - Gulf Coast unleashed its offensive fury for a second consecutive weekend. This time the victim was Andrew College. The Lady Commodores swept the junior college softball doubleheader 8-0 and 10-0 Saturday at Joe Tom King Field. The offensive onslaught was again led by freshman Alanna Hadley, who hit two home runs. Hadley and Jill Mathis (Marianna) tossed one- hitters to help GC improve to 4-0. GC also posted a perfect day on defense with no errors on Saturday and has none for the season. “I think the best thing is we’re playing well fundamentally,” GC coach Susan Painter said. “It’s nice to see us play this well in February.”
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February 3, 2008
GC opens with sweep
News Herald (Brad Milner) - Susan Painter’s youngest team played like veterans on Saturday. Gulf Coast swept visiting Lake City 6-0, 10-4 in its season-opening junior college softball doubleheader at Joe Tom King Field. Painter admitted she didn’t know what to expect from a squad with 16 freshmen. On Saturday, she was pleased considering how shaky rookies are apt to play. “It was the first two and it was a good two,” Painter said. “There were a lot of positives to take from these games, and it’s hard to know where to begin.”
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February 2, 2008
GC opens against traditional foe
News Herald (Brad Milner) - It wasn’t long ago that Lake City Community College was the premier junior college softball team in the state. The year was 2001 when Gulf Coast began its rise with a state championship over Lake City. The Timberwolves gained revenge weeks later by coming through the losers’ bracket at the national tournament and defeating the Lady Commodores twice in the final for the championship. Since then, Lake City has taken a tumble down the ladder and been replaced by Gulf Coast as a perennial force. The teams tangle today in a doubleheader at Joe Tom King Field. The first game is slated for noon for the Lady Commodores’ season opener. Lake City is 2-0 after a sweep of Lake Sumter on Tuesday. Gulf Coast coach Susan Painter said it’s nice to play a meaningful game for the first time since fall practice ended in November.
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January 29, 2008
Calling the shots
News Herald (Brad Milner) - This is what starting over feels like. Gulf Coast softball coach Susan Painter enters her 14th season with her youngest team, as 16 of the 19 players are freshmen. Two of the three sophomores, Amanda Byers and Trinity Pollard, played on the 2007 team, which finished 48-20 and placed third in the state tournament. Painter, who has 632 fastpitch victories at the school, admitted Monday she didn’t know what to expect this season. She said there is great potential, but that the team’s identity might not be known for some time. “We have great anticipation and we’re all eager to compete,” Painter said. “We’re full of inexperience and we’ll take our bumps and bruises along the way, but I believe we’ll be a better team come March.”
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November 14, 2007
GC ATHLETES TAKE NEXT STEP
NEWS HERALD (Brad Milner ) - Byers, 2B signing with Rollins College: Byers became one of Gulf Coast’s best hitters and fielders last season, leading the Lady Commodores to a second-place finish in the Panhandle. She batted .357 with 13 doubles, six triples and one home run to go along with 43 runs scored and 30 RBIs. She also had a .970 fielding percentage. Byers played for Team USA in the World University Games this summer. She will be one of only three sophomores on the team next season. Her leadership will be important, coach Susan Painter said. Rollins, located in Winter Park, was 41-17 in 2007 and played in the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament. “She is definitely a key ingredient for us this year,” Painter said. “It’s always nice to have someone who is levelheaded, smart and a great teammate. She’s a joy to coach and she basically does everything you ask her to do.”
News Herald Article

October 30, 2007
LADY COMMODORES SUPPORT CANCER SOCIETY
On October 29, 2007, the Gulf Coast Lady Commodore Basketball, Softball, and Volleyball Teams participated in a Breast Cancer Awareness Day on the GCCC campus. All 3 teams and their coaches wore pink shirts designed by Kristin Bortnik, placed a “Think Pink” banner in the student union, and recognized three women on campus that are breast cancer “SURVIVORS.” It was part of a national effort as October is the month for National Breast Cancer Awareness. Go Commodores, "Think Pink".

October 29, 2007
LADY COMMODORES SPRING SCHEDULE RELEASED
The Gulf Coast Lady Commodore Softball team's Spring 2008 Schedule was released today. The Commodores open up their spring season with a double-header versus Lake City. The Lady Commodores conference schedule begins on March 18th at home against Okaloosa Walton. The Lady Commodores are coming off a 48-20 record, a second place finish in the Panhandle Conference and a fourth consecutive state tournament berth.

2008 Spring Softball Schedule

August 20, 2007
COMMODORES START UP FALL SEASON
The Gulf Coast Lady Commodore Softball team will start up fall practice Monday, August 27th and will play their first fall game on September 15th versus the Gold Team, game time is 11:00 am. Our fall schedule and roster are now available. Come out and support the Lady Commodores!

2007 Fall Schedule
2007 Fall Roster