Payton Goble (center), who played last season at Surry Community College after three seasons of starring at Bunker Hill High, is transferring to Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) to play softball for the Red Hawks./CODY DALTON, CATAWBA VALLEY ATHLETICS
HobbsDailyReport.com
HICKORY – Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) has grown the roster for its first women’s softball team by two, including adding a former Bunker Hill High star.
On Tuesday, the Red Hawks announced via a press release they have signed Payton Goble and Tatum Arboleda.
Goble, who played prep softball at Bunker Hill and then at Surry Community College last season, is transferring to CVCC.
Arboleda played prep softball at Gaffney (S.C.) High.
CVCC has now signed 18 players.
Goble played at Surry Community College as a pitcher and outfielder as a freshman, throwing 81 1/3 innings with a team-best ERA of 3.70, and her 8-5 record shared most wins for Surry last season.
She also hit .363, scored 27 runs and drove in 26.
“Payton transferring in with a year of college experience is huge for our team,” CVCC head softball coach Josh Bumgarner said in the press release. “Her pitching and bat will be big for us this coming year.”
Goble was selected all-conference, all-district and all-state three times at Bunker Hill and was the 2017 District 7 Player of the Year.
A .468 career hitter for the Bears, she had 42 extra base hits, scored 59 runs, drove in 47 and, as a pitcher, went 10-4 with an ERA of 3.26 in 101 innings pitched.
“I am excited about coming home to play softball and for this opportunity,” Goble said in the press release. “I can’t wait for it to start and to start winning.”
Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) has signed Tatum Arboleda (center) — a standout player last season for Gaffney (S.C.) High — to play on its first softball team./CODY DALTON, CATAWBA VALLEY ATHLETICS
Arboleda played three high school seasons at Byrnes High in Duncan, S.C., before playing at Gaffney as a senior.
She won all-region and all-state honors three times and Byrnes won a state title and had a second-place state finish during her eighth-grade and freshman seasons.
Arboleda hit .436 in high school with 37 runs scored and 37 RBIs.
“I have played softball for so long and for it to not be over — this is another chance for me to continue in softball and achieve bigger things,” Arboleda said in the press release. “It is exciting to join the new softball team at CVCC. It gives us an opportunity to set a tone for the program.”
A utility player that can play catcher and middle infield, Arboleda can also pitch, tossing in 134 innings in high school with a 1.65 ERA, 95 strikeouts and a 18-4 record.
“Tatum plays multiple positions and that will give our line up options going forward,” Bumgarner said. “She has big game experience winning a state title in softball down in South Carolina, and we will use that experience as we build our program.”
— Reported by CVCC Sports Information