It appears as though the Lady Buc’s softball team has a new ace. Tiffany Vandergriff, a freshman from Sale Creek, pitched three complete games last week while giving up just two runs for a 0.95 ERA. Two of her victories came in a doubleheader over in Georgia Southern. As if this wasn’t enough, she bats .325.
Now I will be the first to admit that I don’t know a great deal about women’s softball, but, holy cow, three complete games? I know baseball pitchers who are worn out by three complete innings. Not to mention, it’s been a while since I’ve seen a pitcher lead a baseball team in hitting average. And I’m almost sure I’ve never heard of a freshman doing both.
This isn’t meant to insult the game of baseball; after all, softball and baseball are completely different games that place different stresses on the arms of the respective pitchers. However, no matter what sport you’re playing, to go two games without rest, driving oneself to that achievement is superlative regardless of the given sport. Indeed, the Southern Conference agreed with me, and awarded Vandergriff the Pitcher of the Week award for the games covering March 27-April 1.
I suppose this isn’t true reporting; this isn’t necessarily hot news or breaking scandal or even particularly exciting. However, I’m a firm believer that those who do exceptional things deserve recognition, regardless of what other perspective there might be. I’m sure that some time in the future, I’ll have to write nasty columns about bad things happening at the university; indeed, the law of averages proves that statement. It is important, I think, to differentiate between doom-saying and reporting.
If I were to merely talk about what was wrong with this university, I would miss many of the wonderful things about it. So, instead of reporting what is wrong, I choose to report what is significant and what is exceptional. In the midst of a depressing season, Tiffany Vandergriff impressed at least one fan, and I congratulate her.

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