Sports

Dougherty’s Peterson signs with ASU

• Dougherty’s Brishauna Peterson becomes the Lady Trojans first softball player to sign a national letter of intent.

Scott Chancey

ALBANY — While Albany State’s softball team was in Miami preparing for its first-round NCAA Division II regional game against third-ranked Barry on Wednesday, Dougherty High School’s Brishauna Peterson was preparing to sign with the Lady Rams.

When she did so Wednesday, she became the first Lady Trojan to sign a college softball scholarship since Dougherty’s program moved to fast-pitch.

 “She’s a good athlete and it’s going to be a great place for her to go,” second-year Dougherty coach Stephanie Coley said. “She works very hard and is very athletic and plays a lot of other sports. And with softball, that was her top sport and that showed by her signing with Albany State. She has an amazing arm and she has a good eye for the ball. She can definitely hit it.”

For Peterson, Wednesday was special on many levels.

“It means a lot,” Peterson said. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do.

It has been one of my favorite sports, so this is something I always strived for. It’s a great accomplishment, and it makes me feel like I’ve done something good and that anybody can do it and that softball is a real sport.”

Peterson said she had two home runs and 11 RBI last fall. Lady Rams coach Robert Skinner added he plans to keep her at her high school position of shortstop to back up current Lady Rams starer Ta’Shelya Bynum, who coincidentally played prep softball at Monroe.

“The biggest thing I liked about her is the fact she’s local,” Skinner said. “We really focus and concentrate on building our softball team locally. What she will bring to our team is some strength. She’s a very strong kid and we’re just believing that since we’ll have her here for the summer, we’ll work with things like timing at the plate.”

Peterson definitely felt she made the right choice.

“I really like their softball team and went to lot of their games and liked Coach Skinner and what he did with the players,” Peterson said. “The atmosphere they had seemed like it would be some place I would like to join. It’s a big relief to go ahead and sign, just the anticipation of waiting and knowing. It was a big thing over my head. Now that it’s actually into play now, I know I’m moving forward.”

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