Ann Elise Duncan fit in with her new teammates at Brookhaven Academy like her pitching hand in her glove. The transfer from North Pike made a big impact in her first season wearing Cougar blue as the junior pitcher helped lead Brookhaven Academy to the MAIS 5A title series.

For her outstanding work in the pitching circle, Duncan has been named The Daily Leader All-Area Most Valuable Defensive Player of the Year for 2023-2024.

Since travel softball is so popular in the area, Duncan had connections with plenty of her teammates at BA before ever enrolling at the school.

With MHSAA schools playing softball in the spring and MAIS schools like Brookhaven Academy starting practice in late summer and ending the season in early fall, there wasn’t much of a break for Duncan in 2023.

She pitched for North Pike as the Jaguars lost in the MHSAA 4A title series to West Lauderdale in May and then made her first appearance for BA in July against Wayne Academy to open the season for the Cougars.

A Pearl River Community College commit, she finished her first season at Brookhaven Academy with 139 innings thrown. Duncan struck out 164 batters and finished with a 1.90 ERA while playing in a loaded MAIS District 3-5A for head coach Lisa Covington.

Duncan’s biggest night in the circle was a 13 strikeout, one-hit performance against Wayne Academy in a five-inning win. She also struck out 12 in six innings against Amite School Center. She was named to the MAIS 5A All-State team.

Brookhaven Academy dropped the championship series 2-1 to their rivals from Parklane Academy, but with only one senior on the team last season, expect another big year from Duncan and the Cougars when MAIS softball soon starts back up.