Hall of Fame
Elizabeth Bartels Thorne • Rollins College Softball
Liz Bartels joined the Rollins College softball program at a time when the sport was really struggling to establish itself. When she arrived on campus in 1995, Bartels joined a Rollins team that had never posted a winning record and finished with a record of 1-47 in 1994, actually disbanding midway through the season. During Bartels’ four-year stay in Winter Park, the Tars improved their record each season and, in 1998, posted a 34-13 overall record, still their best ever. She contributed to this stunning turnaround in 1996 by leading all of Division II in doubles with an SSC record 28, and hitting .472 to lead the SSC. A first team All-American in 1997, Bartels remains the only Rollins softball player to ever receive that well-deserved honor. In addition to her outstanding hitting, Bartels was an ace on the mound, posting 53 career wins, including a 18-2 record her senior year, the sixth-best single-season winning percentage in SSC history. She was named to the All-SSC first team twice, the GTE Academic All-American squad three times, and was Rollins’ Female Athlete of the Year for the 1996-97 school year. An active member of the Rollins Student-Athlete Advisory Committee who served as president her senior year, Bartels graduated cum laude in 1998. Bartels later received her master’s degree in physical therapy from the University of Florida, and currently works as a physical therapist at Florida Hospital Orthopedic Institute. She also serves as an assistant softball coach at Rollins. She is the fifth softball player and first from Rollins to be inducted into the SSC Hall of Fame.