GC softball played its first games with their new interim head coach, Kenneth Bellamy, Feb. 3 against Emmanuel College. 

Originally from Beech Island, South Carolina, Bellamy attended University of South Carolina Salkehatchie, where he played baseball for two seasons. He then finished out his baseball career at Paine College.

After graduating, Bellamy made his way back to USC Salkehatchie, where he served as head coach from 2012 to 2020. While with the program, Bellamy was awarded Coach of the Year twice, once in 2017 and again in 2019. He led his team to the regular-season championship and eventually became the region tournament runner-up. 

Bellamy landed an assistant coaching position at Mercer University in 2021 before coming to GC in 2022, where he was the assistant coach for two seasons. Bellamy stepped into the role of interim head coach after former head coach Jamie Grodecki stepped down after being with the program for 13 seasons.

Grodecki resigned from her position in late August of last year, leaving the position vacant with little time to spare before preseason play began. GC Executive Director of Athletics Windle Staton stated he was confident in naming Bellamy interim head coach due to his leadership and coaching ability. 

“It means the world to me to have been given this opportunity,” Bellamy said. “At the end of the day, all I tell anybody is that I want to coach. As long as I’m on a ball field, I’m happy, so it means a lot to me.”

GC played their first games with Bellamy as head coach against Emmanuel, where they won two out of the three games, winning the first game 3-1 and the third game 7-3. 

“It was exciting to finally play,” Bellamy said. “I was ready to get out here. I think I really just needed the girls to get out here and play. Once first pitch happened, it had felt as if I had been here forever.”

While Bellamy was on the coaching staff last year, the move from assistant to head coach makes a big difference for a team. 

“It has been a blessing that he is our head coach this season,” said Divina Checo, a junior utility player and catcher. “Softball is fun again with him as coach. I actually enjoy coming to practice, and I enjoy seeing him as well as my teammates every single day.”

Since Grodecki was with the program for so long, having a new leader in charge gives a new perspective and outlook onto the program. 

“It has been like a fresh start,” said Lauren Rule, a freshman outfielder. “He has brought a really positive environment to the team and makes us all feel joy when we get to play.”

While this is just the start of the 53-game season, Bellamy and his team have high hopes for this season after the great season they had last year. 

“We want to compete,” Bellamy said. “We want to make the conference tournament and really just build off of what we did last year, but now, we want to take it to the next step and do a little more.”

The softball team is currently 3-4 for the season after playing in the Red-White-Blue Classic at Columbus State University. Bellamy and his team are back in action at home Wednesday, Feb. 14, against Erskine College.