Candace German set batting average record
By Mike Harper
The legendary Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox opined that hitting a baseball thrown by a professional pitcher was the single most difficult accomplishment in sports. In recent years, others have put forth the hypothesis that hitting a fast pitched softball is a more challenging feat. Doing either certainly requires a lot of skill.
2025 Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame (FCSHOF) inductee Candace German was up to the challenge of swatting a softball during her softball career at Fannin County High School (FCHS) and then at the University of North Georgia (UNG). She played for the Fannin High JV squad as an eighth grader in 2008 and then excelled as an outfielder for the Fannin High Lady Rebels from 2009 through 2012. During her four years of varsity competition, she hit for an average of .401 with a school record batting average of .550 in her junior campaign in 2011.
Just for the record, Ted Williams had a career batting average of .344 with a career best single season mark of .401 in 1941.
Candace, along with fellow FCSHOF inductee Karly Thompson, led the 2008 Fannin JV team to a 7-3 record. The success of this team was a harbinger of things to come for a Fannin softball program that had not experienced a lot of success in recent years.
Coach Joe Breeden said that Candace was “an exceptional young talent and could be the best hitter in the program right now.”
She was also an outstanding defensive player in the outfield for the Lady Rebels. Fast pitch softball at Georgia high schools is a fall sport, played in the months of August, September and October. Candace hit the ground running as she began her varsity career as a freshman in the autumn of 2009. She had developed into a switch hitter and held down the left field position for the Lady Rebels. Coach Breeden said that he felt that Fannin probably had ‘the best outfield in the region.”
In addition to her hitting prowess, Candace was a solid defender, possessing a strong arm in her arsenal of talents. In august, 2009, the Fannin softball team held a “throw-a-thon” as a fundraiser. Freshman Candace German won the event, outdistancing her teammates with a throw of 165 feet from home plate to the outfield.
During her high school career, the Fannin Lady Rebels posted records of 15-8 in 2009, 15-12 in 2010, 25-15 in 2011 and 24-14 in 2012. The 2009 team was the first softball team in Fannin fast pitch history to have a winning record. The 2010, 2011 and 2012 teams all advanced to the state tournament. The 2011 team finished fifth in state competition.
On an individual level, Candace was awarded the team Best Offensive Player Award in 2010 and 2012 and won the team Silver Slugger award following her junior season in 2011. She was selected to the all region team as a junior and as a senior. She was named to the all state first team in 2010 and 2012 and to the all state second team in 2011. She was the first player in school history to be named to the GACA(Georgia Athletic Coaches Association) all State 1st team. In addition to her career batting average of .401, she had 160 hits, 85 RBIs and 11 home runs.
The press gave the nickname “Blitzkreig” to Candace, probably because of her habit of attacking quickly with great intensity. During arguably her best season of 2011, she hit a first inning grand slam homer against banks county, a three-run first inning Homer vs Rabun county, a two-run homer and a single driving in a run in a 6-2 victory over Union County and a three-run homer in a state playoff game against Lovett. Defensively she had a fielding average of 1.000 in 2011 and committed only one error in 2012.
After graduating from FCHS in the spring of 2013, Candace was awarded a scholarship to play softball for the University of North Georgia Nighthawks in Dahlonega. The Nighthawks were a softball powerhouse playing in NCAA division ii competition. College softball is a spring sport, so her first season was during the 2013-2014 season. She played in a reserve role as a freshman and her career was cut short by a shoulder injury after nine games of the 2015 season, a season the North Georgia team won the NCAA division II National Championship.
In 2020, Candace was inducted into the North Georgia Athletic Hall of Fame along with the other members of the 2015 National Championship team. She considers this one of her biggest thrills in athletics, along with the fifth place finish of the 2011 Fannin squad in state competition. She holds a degree in exercise science from UNG.
Strong athletic genes undoubtedly are characteristic of the German family. Candace’s father Mike played football and baseball at FCHS in the early 1990s and grandfather Larry was an offensive lineman at West Fannin High School from 1957-1961. Her sister Sydney is currently an up and coming softball and track and field star at FCHS.
Candace German currently makes her home in Alpharetta, Georgia where she is a successful agent with Harry Norman Realtors. She began her real estate career in 2020 and is very proud of her accomplishments and the organization whom she represents. When not wheeling and dealing in the real estate market, she enjoys hiking, traveling around the country and spending time with her dog Luna.