Adversity kept throwing punches. Kelsey Hodges refused to fold. It was a test of wills, really, but Hodges won out in the end with one final college softball season where she saw everything come together the way she always hoped it would.

Pace softball stars Jayden Heavener and Shelby McKenzie have been named MaxPreps All-Americans.

Heavener is a first-team pick and McKenzie earned second-team honors.

Former Jay athlete Sarah Edwards will make her U.S. Women’s Open debut this week at Pebble Beach.

Edwards secured a spot in the LPGA event by winning a qualifier in Atlanta in May. She shot a seven-under par 137 over the two days that she competed to punch her ticket to the Open, which runs July 6-9 in California.

Wayne Albury is entering a build-it-from-ground-up type of situation as the new athletic director and baseball coach at Lighthouse Private Christian College.

He’ll officially take on both roles in August, and for Albury, being part of a new program isn’t new.

Kinsley Hines has been playing volleyball since third grade and has seen her passion for the sport grow. As well as her skill. Hines, after all, dished out 600 assists last season for the Patriots.

“I just love the sport. It’s fun because it’s so competitive, and there is always that challenge to get better,” Hines said.

Jayden Heavner is known as one of the top pitchers in the nation, so it comes as no surprise that she has earned more postseason recognition.

The Pace standout was named first-team all-state by Extra Innings Softball after a successful junior season with the Patriots. She’s also a Perfect Game Futures All-American and a MaxPreps All-American as well.

Former West Florida Baptist Academy standout Allie Whiting is headed to Pensacola Christian College to continue her volleyball career.

Whiting spent the last two years playing for Pensacola State, appearing in a total of 31 matches for the Pirates.

In a Tweet on June 24 after his Game 1 start for Florida in the College World Series against LSU, Pace grad Brandon Sproat thanked Gator nation for everything.

Sproat had just thrown four innings, giving up two runs on six hits and striking out seven in a game the Gators lost 4-3 in extra innings on a Saturday night at Charles Schwab Stadium in Omaha.

Lucy Gongwer fell in love with flag football before she went on to become a standout in the sport for the Pace Patriots.

It was during her eighth-grade year that her passion for the sport was forged. She watched a practice one day and eventually attended a camp that the team held.

Ashten Dickerson has been around football her entire life. Not a surprise, really, considering her dad is a football coach at the University of West Florida.

So it’s only fitting that Dickerson decided to play flag football in high school for the Pace Patriots, and it’s only fitting that she’ll now continue her career at Florida Gateway College.