Caldwell, Johnson headline four Bobcats on All-Peach Belt teams

AUGUSTA, Ga. | Georgia College & State University has five represented on the 2025 All-Peach Belt Conference Softball teams.

Kam Caldwell was named to the All-PBC first team and was named the league's Player of the Year, while Brittany Johnson was nabbed as the conference's Coach of the Year. Divina Checo, Karlie Gutierrez and Sydney Lancaster were second team All-Peach selections for the Bobcats. It was the second All-PBC laurels for Caldwell and Guiterrez and the first for Checo and Lancaster.

Caldwell, who is a senior third baseman from Athens, Georgia, leads the Bobcats in just about every offensive category. Caldwell, who was named to the 2025 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division II Player of the Year Watchlist, is batting .405 (64-of-158) in 46 starts with 37 runs scored, 20 doubles, five triples, three home runs, and 38 RBI. She has eight stolen bases with a .652 slugging percentage and a .466 on-base percentage. She is first in the Peach Belt in doubles and doubles per game (0.43), fourth in triples and triples per game (0.11), fifth in hits, sixth in batting average, seventh in total bases (103) and 10th in on-base percentage. She is also ranked fourth in NCAA Division II stats in doubles and doubles per game. Caldwell, who leads the Bobcats in multi-hit (19) and multi-RBI (12) games as well as the longest hitting streak (16) this season, is the fourth Bobcat to be named Player of the Year and the first Sherquita Bostick was honored in 2008 and 2009.

It did not take Johnson long to make an impact as the head coach at GCSU. In her first season at the helm, the Bobcats are the No. 2 seed for this weekend's PBC Tournament, their highest tournament seed since 2018. The Bobcats were 14-10 in league play, their most in seven years. She becomes the fourth Bobcat coach to be named Coach of the Year, the first since 2013. Johnson was also the fourth GCSU mentor to be named Coach of the Year and first since Jamie Grodecki was lauded in 2013.

Checo, who is a senior second baseman from Marietta, Georgia, led the Bobcats with seven home runs in 46 game (45 starts) and was second with 12 doubles. Checo, who was named a PBC Player of the Week this season, was second in slugging percentage (.571), third with 27 runs scored, fourth in hits (43) and RBI (26), and fifth in batting average (.307, 43-of-140). She added two triples and three stolen bases to go along with her .385 on-base percentage. Checo is third in the PBC in sacrifice bunts per game (0.24), and ninth in hit batters with five. She is also ranked 35th nationally in sacrifice bunts per game. Checo was second on the team with 13 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games.

Gutierrez, a sophomore catcher from Newman, Georgia, is second for GCSU in hits (50), runs scored (28), doubles (12), home runs (4) and RBI (28), and third in slugging percentage (.503) and batting average (.340) in 46 starts. She added eight stolen bases and has a .417 on-base percentage. Gutierrez is second for the Bobcats with 13 multi-hit games and third with five multi-RBI games.

Lancaster, a junior utility player from Woodstock, Georgia, is second on the team with a .341 batting average (45-of-132), third in hits (45), fourth in doubles (9), home runs (3) and runs scored (22), and fourth in slugging percentage (.492).  Lancaster also has a triple, 18 RBI and three stolen bases to go along with a .390 on-base percentage. She is  second for the Bobcats with 13 multi-hit games and third with five multi-RBI games.

No. 2 seed GCSU will face No. 7 Georgia Southwestern State University in an 11 a.m. quarterfinal game Friday (May 2) in the single-elimination PBC Tournament being hosted by the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega, Georgia. Tickets are $10 per person and must be purchased online in advance at https://peachbeltconference.org/sports/2020/10/14/tickets.aspx. Tickets will be available to be purchased beginning Wednesday (April 30). Children ages five and under, and students with a valid ID from a PBC school are admitted free. All games of the PBC Tournament will be available via pay-per-view. The cost of the pay-per-view is $10 per game and there will be an option for an all-tournament pass ($25).