James Clemens sends Good out with a win on Senior Night
James Clemens senior Rachel Good stands next to her lifesize poster
(RECORD PHOTO/LINDSAY VAUGHT)
MADISON- Rachel Good has been through the full range of emotions this season; from tears of pain to tears of joy. Thursday afternoon her parents, coaches, and teammates were on hand to honor her on Senior Day. It was the last home game of the season as James Clemens defeated West Limestone 8-2 in a final tuneup before the Class 6A, Area 16 tournament starts next week at Austin High School in Decatur.
Good is the only senior on this year’s softball team having moved to Madison from Ohio with her parents Bill and Robyn Good. She also has a younger brother.
Good, who bats left but throws right, was having an excellent season batting .429 and was second on the team in stolen bases showing her speed on the base paths and playing leftfield until she was hit on the arm with a pitch while James Clemens was playing Cordova in the Bob Jones Tournament on April 5.
“The girl pitched me way too inside, she was throwing about 63 mph and hit me right in the forearm,” Good said. “It fractured it but I kept playing on it. They couldn’t see the break on X-rays. Then about two weeks ago I heard a loud pop and it hurt so bad I went down to my knees. It totally separated.”
Mary Kate West has moved from right field to left to replace Good.
The injury wasn’t her first bout with tough luck.
She suffered a torn ACL that resulted in knee surgery as a sophomore. She came back strong as a junior and played catcher but had to move to the outfield this season due to the strain on her knees.
“It was tough on my spirit but I worked really hard to get back for my junior year.”
Her hard work paid off as she got noticed by college coaches. She signed a full ride athletic scholarship to Southern Union State Community College in Wadley, Alabama.
James Clemens Head Softball Coach A.J. Daugherty said that Rachel impressed him with her playing ability and her versatility.
“Last season we lost our starting catcher the day before we played our first area game. Rachel volunteered to catch without hesitation even though she was not a catcher, in fact, she had never caught before. That was very impressive to us, as coaches, because she just wanted to help the team. She is a winner and a team-first type player and those are the kind of kids every coach can appreciate.”
“Rachel has been an outstanding leader-by-example for our underclassmen in her 2 years in our program,” Daugherty said to the gathering. “We wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors. We will miss her but we know she is destined for great things and we are proud to call her a Jet.”
Good’s father is an Auburn graduate and Good plans to transfer there after two years at Southern Union.
“We’re very confident,” she said of the mood of the team going into post season. “We accomplished a lot this year that we didn’t last year like beating Bob Jones.”
Good said the cast will stay on for about five or six weeks so she will be the one at graduation with the cast on.
