Sunday, August 02, 2009

Two Cape Coral student athletes who have a similar history of softball success are resuming their collegiate careers at Ave Maria University. Sarah Bronson and Allie Hurley graduated in 2007 from Lee County high school teams that played for Florida state championships. Bronson, a catcher who also plays the corner infield positions, was with Southwest Florida Christian Academy in its 2007 Class A state title bid, while Hurley, an outfielder, was a freshman on Bishop Verot's 2004 Class 3A state finalist team. In their only previous seasons in college softball, both student athletes also played with teams that were runners-up for national championships. Bronson, an All-State and All-Area schloastic player, was at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach when that team made the National Christian Colleges Athletic Association title game. Hurley, an outfielder and Verot team MVP, was on a Santa Fe Community College team that played for a national junior college title. Bronson and Hurley join Ave Maria for the first season of intercollegiate softball at the university in Collier County. Women's softball is one of nine intercollegiate sports at Ave Maria, an NAIA affiliate and member of the Sun Conference.