MARSHALL, Texas — It was a purely dominant season on the campus of East Texas Baptist University for both the Tiger baseball and softball teams. Baseball was a legit national contender, ranked in the top five for a majority of the season, while the softball team won the Division II national championship.
At the forefront of the success were two "heart and souls" of their teams, senior leaders who have had some of the best careers of any player to come through Marshall.
Tristen Maddox was able to lift the championship trophy after four years of dedication to her team. The standout shortstop was just named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, batting .33 with two homeruns and eight RBI to help her team to victory. She also earned back-to-back honors as ASC Player of the Year, and a three-time All American.
Maddox was also awarded with one of the most prestigious awards of all following the conclusion of the season. Maddox was invited to New York City for the Collegiate Women Sports Awards as the Honda Division Three Athlete of the Year.
"It was really unexpected. I never thought that I would have been chosen for something as amazing as that. It was honestly a blessing to meet so many powerful women that are dominating in their sport," Maddox said. "Being on the same stage as them was really an honor to be able to be compared to such great athletes."
Maddox graduates next semester but decided she isn't quite done with her career. In some great news for ETBU, but not so much for the other teams within the conference, the shortstop is coming back for her final year of eligibility to defend the championship with her Tiger teammates.
"I just wasn't ready to hang up those cleats yet. Obviously, it's something I've been doing my whole life and it's been phenomenal playing at ETBU," Maddox said. "I just feel all the love from coaches and teammates and even the whole school and community around us."
Just across the parking lot at Woods field, pitcher Sayers Collins was putting together a historic career of his own for the ETBU baseball team. Just like Maddox, the senior pitcher also went back-to-back as ASC Male Athlete of the Year. Following his final career start, he also earned the major honor of Division Three Pitcher of the Year.
"There were some amazing arms this year in the entire country in D3, so even being in the conversation was humbling, but I'm very grateful for that. Winning it is big time," Collins said. "The individual accolades are great but doing it knowing I'm representing East Texas Baptist and the whole community out here that I fell in love with the last few years means so much to me."
Collins is the first ASC pitcher to win the award since 2008. This year, he was named an All-American for the third straight season while putting together an unreal line of 12-1 with a 1.23 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 88 innings pitched.
Over the course of his historic career, Collins collected 421 total strikeouts, putting him third all time in Division Three history for most strikeouts in a career. As he's walked off the mound as a Tiger for the final time, he's already considered one of the best to ever do it at that level. However, his journey is far from finished, as he now turns his vision professionally.
"Based off my career that I had here, I didn't think I'd contribute much. But then I realized that I do belong and that I'm pretty good," said Collins. "Whoever takes a chance on me, if I get my foot in the door, I'm known for adjusting to my environment and dominating. So, whatever happens, I'm content with it."