ORANGE PARK - Two of the more prominent softball athletes to ever play in Clay County, twin sisters by the way, have become the newest additions to the St. Johns Country Day School athletic coaching staff as Ridgeview High all-staters Brittany and Brooke Michael have been named to the softball staff with head coach Brittany McGuire.
Both Michaels were part of a span of Final Four finishes for the Ridgeview High softball program under then-coach Casey Thompson, now athletic director at Middleburg, who guided the team to 2019 and 2021 Final Four finishes with Brittany as his four-time All-State pitcher and twin Brooke the master catcher behind the plate that protected home plate with all the fervor of sister Brittany's strikes from the mound.
Brooke Michael was part of one of the more dramatic returns to softball play after a battle with cancer that left her career in jeopardy, but more fueled a Ridgeview team determined to keep the level of play as it was under Michael's leadership behind home plate.
As the 2020 season started, Michael eventually beat her cancer to return to softball and masterfully be a depth charge of determination for the Panthers Final Four run in 2021; a 2-0 loss to eventual 4A champion Eustis High School.
After Ridgeview, both players played at Tallahassee Community College with Brittany earning an NJCAA National Player of the Week selection and two Florida College System (FCSAA) Player of week selections as a pitcher.
Following her High School career, Brittany chose to play softball at Tallahassee Community College. She was a decorated collegiate pitcher who also played an ample amount of first base and quickly earned herself a spot in the starting lineup. In her time at TCC she earned NJCAA National Player of the week and was named 2X FCSAA Player of the Week as a pitcher.
Brittany then played at Georgia Southwestern State University.
Brooke Michael was also a four-year starter, at catcher, for the Ridgeview Panthers and also stayed with sister Brittany at TCC where she earned the starting slot and proved her prowess again with a Second Team All-Panhandle selection.
Brooke also played at Georgia Southwestern State University, where she competed in the fall season of 2023.
McGuire, who joined the Spartan staff last summer, was a four-year for Ponte Vedra High where she was named team Most Valuable Player her senior year. McGuire played college ball at Florida Gulf Coast University.