Two-Time First Team All-State Jessica Griffin Sported Whopping .781 Slugging Percentage

By  //  March 27, 2020

2019 SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE

SPACE COAST DAILY TV: Jessica Griffin was a two-time Miracle Sports Network First Team All-State pick and two-time First Team All-Space Coast selection. She batted .511 with 50 runs batted in in her final two seasons for the Vipers. The Wendy’s High School Heisman nominee had a .781 slugging percentage and was recruited by several schools.

THE 2020 SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME Banquet and Induction Ceremony will take place at the Cocoa Beach Country Club on Friday, May 8. 

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA (Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame) – Once Jessica Griffin started her first varsity softball game as a seventh-grader at Space Coast Jr./Sr. High School, she was destined to walk across the stage at the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame induction.

Griffin was the type of player every coach dreams about. She was humble, worked hard, never missed a game and produced all-star numbers as a catcher and hitter for the Vipers, and then at Stetson University.

The daughter of Pete and Donna Griffin, Jessica learned the game from her father.

“My father taught me how to stay humble and work hard,” said Griffin.

“I realized I loved softball not because I came from a softball-baseball family, after all, my father and mother met on a softball field, but I knew I loved softball when I wanted to work hard to try to be great at it.”

The hard work paid off for the left-handed catcher who never wanted to come out of the game.

Griffin was an anchor on the Central Florida Sting Black, who won the ASA 18 and under state championship in 2011 and the ASA 18 and under National Championship in 2012.

Jessica Griffin, second from left, was a two-time Miracle Sports Network First Team All-State pick and two-time First Team All-Space Coast selection. She batted .511 with 50 runs batted in in her final two seasons for the Vipers. The Wendy’s High School Heisman nominee had a .781 slugging percentage and was recruited by several schools.
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In high school, Jessica’s impact to the Vipers softball program was immediate. As an eighth-grader, she scored the winning run in the district championship game.

Griffin, along with 2018 Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame inductee Dani Mowry, was part of Vipers squad that went on to win four district and conference championships.

In 58 games as a junior and senior at Space Coast, she never missed a game, allowing just two pass balls as she threw out nearly 40 percent of attempted base stealers.

The two-time Miracle Sports Network First Team All-State pick and two-time First Team All-Space Coast selection batted .511 with 50 runs batted in in her final two seasons for the Vipers.

The Wendy’s High School Heisman nominee had a .781 slugging percentage and was recruited by several schools.

At Stetson University Jessica Griffin started in her first game as a freshman in right field and even hit a home run in one her first at-bats against the South Carolina Gamecocks. Hatters’ manager Frank Griffin and assistant coach Vanessa Bataille quickly realized Griffin belonged behind the plate.
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At Stetson University she started in her first game as a freshman in right field and even hit a home run in one her first at-bats against the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Hatters’ manager Frank Griffin and assistant coach Vanessa Bataille quickly realized Griffin belonged behind the plate.

She finished her career at Stetson playing in 209 of a possible 210 games, making 208 starts, 206 of those at catcher, including a streak of 136 starts in a row from her sophomore to senior years. She caught all but three innings and threw out 14 base stealers in her senior season for Stetson.

Griffin’s bat stayed hot in college where she reached base safely in 166 of 209 games and finished ranked fifth in school history in on-base percentage (.416), 11th in slugging pct. (.463), fourth in doubles (39), eighth in home runs (20), sixth in RBI (122) and seventh in total bases (254).

She attended UCF and graduated with a specialist’s degree in psychology and is currently an intern for Brevard County Schools as a school psychologist.

Jessica Griffin’s bat stayed hot in college where she reached base safely in 166 of 209 games and finished ranked fifth in school history in on-base percentage (.416), 11th in slugging pct. (.463), fourth in doubles (39), eighth in home runs (20), sixth in RBI (122) and seventh in total bases (254).

THE 2020 SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME Banquet and Induction Ceremony will take place at the Cocoa Beach Country Club on Friday, May 8. 

FOR INFORMATION ABOUT the 2020 SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME, call 321-615-8111 or e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com

CLICK HERE TO SEE MEMBERS OF THE SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME

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The Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame selection committee announced an impressive array of outstanding individuals to be inducted into the 2019 Class of the Hall of Fame. The 2019 Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame Induction Banquet and Sports Awards will be held Friday, May 10 at the Cocoa Beach Country Club.

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