February’s first Division I Softball Player of the Week within the Alabama Community College Conference was none other than Fairhope alumna and Southern Union freshman Edy Gavin who racked up 16 hits in 22 at-bats for a .727 batting average.

Gavin also scored 14 runs, launched 4 home runs, stole 6 bases and drove in 6 RBIs to help the Bison win three of four games over the weekend, two by run rule, to improve to 7-2 out of the gates.

Southern Union rattled off seven more wins in a row before the Bison split Friday and Saturday doubleheaders last weekend. With a 15-4 overall record entering play this week, Southern Union checked in at No. 24 in the NJCAA Division I Poll for Week 1.

The 10-game win streak from Feb. 7-21 also included a milestone for Bison head softball coach Chris Steiner-Leak following a doubleheader sweep of Reid State on Feb. 17.

A sweep for No. 700

A Robertsdale alumna and member of the Golden Bear Hall of Fame’s Class of 2006, Steiner-Leak recently picked up her 700th career victory in her 25th season as a coach at the high school and college levels. With 214 wins on the high school circuit, including a 5A state title at Brewbaker Tech in 2023, Steiner-Leak is now up to 488 wins at the collegiate level with 34 games remaining on the Bison’s 2025 schedule.

Steiner-Leak has been a trailblazer since her days as a Golden Bear when she was part of the first-ever fast pitch softball team at Robertsdale High School, where she was a four-year letterwinner in volleyball, basketball and softball as well as a one-year letterwinner in track. She went on to play softball and volleyball at Huntingdon for one season before transferring to Auburn where she recorded the softball program’s first home run during its inaugural season.

The Tigers’ record book still features Steiner-Leak in plenty of categories as she entered this season with the most sacrifice hits (38) and seventh-most stolen bases (35) for a career. She also ranks third in most sacrifice hits (15 in 1997 and 1998) and sixth in stolen base percentage (15-of-17 for .882 in 1999) for a single season at Auburn.

Reinhardt and Auburn-Montgomery also started their college softball programs with Steiner-Leak at the helm as head coach where the AUM Warhawks went on to win the 2014 NAIA National Championship under Steiner-Leak who earned National Coach of the Year honors. Her other coaching stops included Eufaula and Palmetto High Schools in Florida as well as Alabama State and Florida International Universities.

Gavin’s fast stats

Through her first 19 games as a Bison, Gavin has recorded at least one hit in all but two games, including the season’s first 16 games in a row. She’s also scored at least one run in all but seven games and has scored multiple runs in nine games.

Entering play this week, Gavin has recorded 33 hits in 66 at-bats for a .500 batting average with 5 doubles, 6 triples and 5 home runs to go along with 25 runs scored, 17 stolen bases and 13 RBIs. With 65 total bases, she owns a .507 on-base percentage and a .985 slugging percentage. Gavin has also logged a .903 fielding percentage with 28 putouts in 31 total chances so far.

Her 17 stolen bases were good enough for first in the ACCC entering play on Tuesday where her 5 home runs were tied for second and her .500 batting average was tied for third.

A two-time first-team all-state honoree at Class 3A Mobile Christian, Gavin transferred to Fairhope for her senior year and helped the Pirates make a run to the Class 7A title game where they took home a Red Map trophy as state runners-up with a 47-7 overall record.

Over 51 games for Fairhope, Gavin logged a .390 batting average, which included 17 home runs, with 72 runs scored, 43 RBIs, 34 stolen bases and a 1.240 on-base plus slugging percentage according to MaxPreps stats. She also owned a .976 fielding percentage with 40 putouts on 41 total chances.

Southern Union was scheduled for a Tuesday doubleheader with Central Alabama before Northwest-Shoals makes a road trip to open ACCC play against the Bison on Thursday, March 6.