GBHS senior Megan McDonald signed a letter of intent to play softball for Santa Fe College last week. Also pictured are (seated: parents Aimee and Vince Stolp and sister Abby Stolp. Back (from left): grandmother Annie Torres, sisters Sarah Stolp and Marissa McDonald, GBHS head coach Sean Tomey and GBHS Principal Jason Weeks. Jason Thompson/Gulf Breeze News Megan McDonald became the third Lady Dolphin softball player in the last two years to sign a softball scholarship when she signed last week with Santa Fe College of Gainesville.

McDonald will join 2011 graduates Alison Milam (Florida Atlantic) and Adrian Culpepper (Pensacola State) in the collegiate ranks.

“As soon as I got there, I just fell in love with it. There was nothing I didn’t like,” said the oldest of the four McDonald/Stolp daughters.

McDonald has been a part of each of Gulf Breeze’s district championship teams in 2009, 2010 and 2011. She batted .380 last year (second highest on the team) with 30 hits and 21 RBIs. She went 3-7 as a pitcher, but had only a 3.52 earned run average.

Ashleigh Keys puts the ball in play last week at Navarre. Jason Thompson/Gulf Breeze News McDonald first caught the eye of Santa Fe coach Christine Ahern during the recent Rising Stars Tournament in Plantation. McDonald’s GBHS teammate Ashleigh Keys was also on the team. McDonald’s team, run by Dennis Rosele, won all five of its games in that tournament.

The daughter of Vince and Aimee Stolp said Santa Fe’s ability to send its players on to Division I schools was a big factor in her decision.

“We’re just extremely proud of her as a player and as a person,” head coach Sean Tomey said. “I know she’ll do everything in her power to make it four (titles) in a row.”

2012 season starts this week vs. Navarre

Sean Tomey saw it coming – but that doesn’t mean he’s going to accept it.

Tomey’s Lady Dolphin softball team won its third consecutive district title last year, the first such run in school history. GBHS lost two of the best players in school history to graduation (Milam and Culpepper) last spring. They have only two seniors on this year’s squad, which opens the regular season at home Friday against Navarre.

The Lady Dolphins lost a pair of preseason games last week at Navarre, including a 9-2 decision to the Lady Raiders on Jan. 31.

“We’ve got a lot of young and inexperienced players right now,” Tomey said. “But I know they have the desire and the work ethic to get better. If we continue to improve every week, I firmly believe that we’ll be able to continue the success we’ve had the last couple of years.”

Megan McDonald will be the team’s go-to pitcher, with younger sister, sophomore Marissa, and Sydney Ezelle, the team’s lone freshman, also seeing time on the mound.

Megan pitched the Navarre game last week, striking out 11, but walked eight.

“I think it was just first game jitters,” Megan said. “I feel I have to carry the whole team. That’s just my mental makeup.”

Of the nine runs allowed by McDonald, only four were earned. She allowed only four hits, while the GBHS bats rapped out six hits.

McDonald had two of them, both doubles, and drove in one. Marissa, who also had two hits, drove in Megan with a double of her own in the sixth inning.

Junior Nina Ewens singled and scored a run, while Patricia Crugar had a pinch-hit single in the seventh inning.

Ewens will play in right field, moving the team's only other senior, Amanda Curington, to left field. Junior Sara Spillers will take over center field.

Megan McDonald will play shortstop when Ezelle is pitching. Ezelle is the first freshman to play varsity since Keys, the team’s third baseman, did two years ago.

A pair of sophomores, Annemarie Schultz and Emily Lively, will play second and first base, respectively. Junior Brooke Reynolds can also play second or catch, while Schultz could see time at third.

Crugar and Taylor Pacyga could spell one of the outfielders.

GBHS expects another challenge from West Florida for district supremacy. “They return most of their team. That’s become a natural rival for us,” Tomey said.

Arnold, Bay and Rutherford comprise the rest of District 1-5A. The Lady Dolphins have beaten both Arnold and Rutherford in regional play in their recent district championship run.

Fellow Santa Rosa County schools Navarre, Milton and Pace will provide some stiff competition, as will a tournament at Belleview High School near Ocala on March 30-31.