A 2010 Union Pines graduate with a desire to continue her softball career in college, Brittany Belton got some help from an unlikely source.

Following the spring high school season, the head coach at rival Pinecrest, Paul Goins, called the Vikings team captain and asked her where she was going to school, to which she replied Sandhills Community College, which doesn’t field a softball team.

“He was like, ‘Well, you’re a good ballplayer. You should be going somewhere to play softball,’” Belton said. “I agreed, because I’ve always wanted to go play college ball. So he made some phone calls and sent some e-mails and tried to get me some tryouts.”

As a result, Belton will suit up for Stanly Community College and head coach Ben Rogers in the spring, where she’ll be teammates with 2010 Pinecrest graduate Jennica Denham. The two plan to room together.

“We played against her, and I’ve seen her play a couple of times,” Goins said of Belton. “I’m happy for her. She’s a hard worker and a good player.”

Belton captained Union Pines during an amazing turnaround this past season. Following back-to-back last-place finishes in the Cape Fear Valley Conference, two seasons in which the Lady Vikings posted a combined 12-31 record, the team finished 14-6 in 2010, including 10-2 in conference play to finish second.

A senior third baseman, Belton batted nearly .500 and was named all-conference and team MVP following the season.

“Brittany was my cornerstone, and she has been so throughout her time at Union Pines,” said Vikings head coach Randy Calcutt after the team’s awards banquet. “There was no doubt she was the team’s most valuable player in terms of both on-field performance and leadership as a captain.”

But after graduation, Belton was left wondering what her next step would be with a game she’s played in one form or another since T-ball.

“It’s kind of like, you’ve stuck with it your whole life, you’ve grown up with it, and once you get started, it’s hard to stop,” she said of softball. “I was just planning to go to Sandhills and hope that sometime soon they would start a softball team.”

That’s when Goins became involved and lined up tryouts for Belton at Stanly Community College, as well as Catawba College and Peace College. Only, she never made it to the latter two.

“I went to Stanly first, and after I got done trying out, (Rogers) offered me to play right then,” Belton said. “I was like, ‘Well, I still have the Catawba tryouts to go to.’ But I went home and did some thinking and just decided that would be a good place to start.”

Belton said she hopes to play at a four-year college following her time at Stanly.

“I’ve always wanted to play college ball,” she said. “I’ve played baseball and softball and everything since I was little, so I hope to go on to a four-year after these two years.”

She says she’d like to send a special thank-you to Goins for the help he provided.

“Paul Goins said he loves to get ladies to the next level, and that’s what a high school coach is supposed to do,” she said.

For his part, Goins says he would do the same thing for any player who is deserving of a chance to play in college.

“It’s about helping any of them I can,” he said. “If there’s any kids you can help, you help them, whether they play for you or not.”