By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Three Pelham High School coaches recently were recognized by their peers as the best in their sport after leading their teams to successful spring seasons.

The Shelby County Coaches Association named PHS head baseball coach Sean Anderson, softball coach Amy Sullivan and girls’ track coach Marty Springfield its Coaches of the Year in each sport, according to PHS Athletic Director Kim Kiel.

“We are really excited. We are having a great sports year across the board,” Kiel said. “We had a great start to the year when volleyball coach Perry Robinson was named Coach of the Year in the fall, and we’ve been lucky enough to have three more coaches receive that honor this spring.

“Two of those three (spring) teams are still going in the playoffs, and we are behind them 100 percent going forward,” Kiel added. “The community and Pelham High School are so excited.”

This season marked Anderson’s first as PHS varsity baseball head coach after serving as assistant baseball coach for several years. As of May 9, Anderson had led the PHS baseball team to a 24-12 record and a berth in the Alabama High School Athletic Association Class 6A semifinals.

The Panthers will travel to Auburn High School on May 10 to take on the Tigers in a best-of-three series.

Sullivan has also led her team to a run in postseason play, as the PHS softball team is preparing to travel to Troy University to take on the Prattville Lions in the Class 6A super regional playoff series. The PHS softball team currently is the top-ranked Class 6A team in the state, and has compiled a 41-4 record on the season.

Springfield led the PHS girls’ track team to a dominant showing in the Shelby County track and field championship meet held at PHS in April.

En route to capturing the championship, the team won 11 of 18 events at the county meet. PHS student-athlete Caitland Smith set county records in the long jump, 100- and 200-meter dashes during the meet.