Softball is a team sport where each of the nine girls on the field fit an important piece of the puzzle. Without one of them the puzzle is incomplete and the results could be unfavorable.

Northview Lady Chiefs shortstop Shawna Montgomery is an important piece of the puzzle for her team, which became the first softball team in the school’s history to win back-to-back district championships.

For her role in that accomplishment as well as her individual accomplishments on the field and at the plate, she has been chosen as a 2011 Diamond Queen and The Atmore Advance’s All-Area Softball Player of the Year.

Despite winning the individual achievement, Montgomery thinks of it as a team award for their role in her success.

“It’s a really, really great accomplishment,” Montgomery said. “I really could not have done it without my team though. They helped me and encouraged me when I was struggling.”

Montgomery finished the season with a .458 batting average, seven doubles, five triples and 21 RBI. She also set a Northview single season record for the most homeruns with four.

Sammy Day, head coach of the Northview softball team, said that Montgomery could always be counted on when the Lady Chiefs needed her.

“Shawna had a great year,” he said. “She hit the most home runs that have ever been hit here. She could be counted on and was always a mainstay in the batting order.”

Her strong statistics were not a guarantee early for Montgomery who struggled at the plate going 0-for-8 in the team’s first three games.

Montgomery said this is where the encouragement of her team came into play and helped her bounce back.

“At the beginning of the season, I wasn’t hitting as well as I should have been,” she said. “Whenever I came back to the dugout one of my teammates would be there to say, ‘Keep your head up, you’ll get it next time,’ and that really helped me stay positive. It let me know that people were behind me even when I was down.”

One of the traits that helped Montgomery bounce back was her work ethic.

Day said his star shortstop has never missed a practice in his two years as her coach.

“Shawna is always working hard,” he said. “I don’t think she’s ever missed a day of practice in four years, and I know she hasn’t in the two that I have coached her. She’s always out here working whether it’s taking ground balls or staying late to get extra batting practice. Her work ethic is always great. She came to play and I’ll hate to lose her.”

Now that her senior season has concluded, Montgomery will have memories to look back on in the future.

She said the most memorable thing that she will remember about her time as a Lady Chief will be the team’s district championships.

“Winning back-to-back district championships was huge,” Montgomery said. “No team before us has ever done that, and for us to do it will always be special. Accomplishing that goal took a lot of hard work. We practiced every day and had a tough coach who was on our butts all of the time.”

Even more than the district championships, Montgomery will look back and remember the great team she had.

She said she will miss the girls she spent so much time with every season.

“I’ll miss the girls that I’ve played with since seventh grade,” Montgomery said. “We’ve all been playing together forever it seems like. It’ll be strange not to be playing with them anymore.”

“I’ll miss the girls that I’ve played with since seventh grade,” Montgomery said. “We’ve all been playing together forever it seems like. It’ll be strange not to be playing with them anymore.”