Wallace State Softball Ranked 11th in Nation

Hanceville, Ala. — The Wallace State Community College Softball team is ranked 11th in the nation in the 2025 National Junior College Division 1 Softball Poll for week 1.

The Lions are 15-4 so far this season, with their first home game set for Saturday, March 8, when they will cut the ribbon on a new synthetic turf field. The ribbon-cutting will be held at 11:30 a.m., before the Lions take the field against Gadsden Community College.

The reigning Alabama Community College Conference champions are guided by first-year head coach Sallie Beth Burch, who played on Wallace State’s 2008 national championship and 2009 national runner-up teams. The 2024 ACCC Championship was the teams fourth straight and 16th overall.

“We are incredibly proud of our team's ranking and their hard work this season,” said Burch. “Our players have shown tremendous dedication and resilience, stepping up to lead us to this early success.”

The Lions currently stand in first place in ACCC Division I, with conference play beginning for the team on March 6 at Gadsden State Community College.

The Lions are a young team, but the freshmen are helping to lead the team. Kaelyn Jones of Hartselle tops the ACCC individual leaderboard in batting with a .593 batting average and is third in stolen bases (12). Charli Kyser of Tuscaloosa tops the leaderboard for runs batted in at 35 and is third in home runs (5), and pitchers Madeline Howard of Mobile and Ava Smith of Destin, Fla., are first and second, respectively, for win counts of 6 and 5, respectively.

Rounding out the top five the ACCC individual leaderboards Brooklynn Sertell of St. Clair, who is second for home runs (6) and fifth on runs batted in (21); sophomore Brandy Phillips of Beulah is third in earned run average (.70) and fifth in stolen bases (9); Blakelyn Austin of Muscle Shoals is fifth in home runs (4).

The public is invited to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 8 on Pete Harris field at Bobby McCrackin Stadium, with special invitations extended to former softball players. Admission to the games will be free, with free popcorn offered as well. Campus Ministries will host a cookout for Wallace State alumni, family and friends.

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About Wallace State

Wallace State Community College (Ala.), a member of the Alabama Community College System, is a comprehensive community college in north central Alabama offering more than 200 options in academic, health and technical programs of study leading to an associate degree, certificate or transfer, as well as workforce-credit training and adult education. An Achieving the Dream Leader College, nationally recognized by the Aspen Institute as a finalist for the 2025 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, ranked by Southern Business and Development among the Top 3 institutions in the South for workforce development, named a Center of Excellence by the National League for Nursing and the National Security Administration, rated the Top Online Community College in Alabama, a Military Friendly Institution and an All-Steinway School, Wallace State is an outstanding place for students to pursue their education and career goals. Classes are offered online and on campus, day, evening and on weekends, with numerous start dates each year. Visit Wallace State’s beautiful main campus located on 300-acres in Hanceville, Ala., our satellite location in downtown Oneonta, Ala., find us online at www.wallacestate.edu, or call 256.352.8000.