BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – LSU senior outfielder Ashley Applegate notched SEC Softball Community Service Team accolades for the third consecutive season Wednesday as announced by the league office.
Applegate has been at the center of the program’s community service effort and served as the team’s representative on LSU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for the last three schools year.
Her community service work includes Thanksgiving with the Tigers where Applegate and her teammates adopted an underprivileged child for the holidays and provided gifts to the child at a program, while serving the family a Thanksgiving style meal and playing games.
Applegate has made multiple visits to Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital where she went room-to-room visiting with patients and cheering them up. She also spearheaded softball’s station at the Halloween BOOzar where she organized an activity, passed out candy and signed autographs for local kids to enjoy a safe night of trick-or-treating.
Applegate collected canned goods at LSU volleyball games to support the local Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank as part of the SEC Together We CAN Food Drive. The Modesto, Calif., native teamed up with other student-athletes and served at Big Buddy’s Day of Mentoring. They played host to children on a mock recruiting trip and gave tours of LSU’s campus and athletic facilities.
Applegate made a year-long commitment to participate in the Everybody Reads Program where she was paired up with an underachieving elementary student for the school year and met with the child at least twice a month to work on reading and self esteem skills at Buchanan Elementary.
Applegate visited St. Vincent de Paul and helped serve food to the homeless as well as sorting clothes in the thrift store for the needy.
The SEC sponsors Community Service Teams for all 20 league sponsored sports. The Community Service Team looks to highlight an athlete from each school who gives back to her community in superior service efforts.
LSU (35-15, 16-9 SEC) concludes the regular season by welcoming South Carolina to Tiger Park for a weekend series. Friday and Saturday’s contests will be televised by CST with Lyn Rollins and Cheri Kempf serving as the announcing team.
All three games of the series will have live audio and live stats available in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net in addition to be carried live on ESPN 104.5 FM with Patrick Wright and Kent Lowe calling the action.
In-game updates are provided via the program’s social media pages at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball and www.Twitter.com/LSU_Softball.
2011 SEC Community Service Team
Ashley Applegate – LSU
Sam Arbaugh – South Carolina
Meagan Aull – Kentucky
Megan Bush – Florida
Amanda Caldwell – Arkansas
Courtney Conley – Alabama
Alisa Goler – Georgia
Amanda Hutcheson – Ole Miss
Morgan Murphy – Auburn
Courtney Nesbit – Mississippi State
Ivy Renfroe – Tennessee