Tuesday, May 10, 2011

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Four Jacksonville Dolphins adorned the 2011 Atlantic Sun Softball All-Conference First Team, while head coach Amanda Lehotak earned an unanimous nod as the Coach of the Year. FGCU’s Courtney Platt, who led the A-Sun in batting average, runs scored and walks, picked up the Player of the Year honor, becoming the third time an Eagle to win the award. Platt, the lone unanimous all-conference selection, patrolled the outfield for the Eagles en route to a 14-6 mark in A-Sun play and 31 wins overall.

The Dolphins’ Sarah Sigrest capped her 23-win campaign by corralling the Pitcher of the Year award to go along with first-team honors after she finished the regular season with 185 strikeouts and a conference-best 1.01 ERA. Behind the plate, Sarah Simon joined Sigrest on the first team with a .376 batting average, 56 hits and 38 RBI, all of which rank in the top-five of the A-Sun.

Amanda Schmidt and Olivia Kline accompanied their teammates on the first team. Schmidt finished third in the A-Sun in RBI with 41, while Kline served as a dual-threat for the Dolphins with 15 wins in the circle and a .317 average at the plate with 26 RBI.

USC Upstate, the host of the 2011 A-Sun Championship, posted two members on the all-conference first team with hurler Morgan Childers and infielder Lauren Quevedo. Childers, a four-time A-Sun All-Conference honoree, became the seventh player to achieve the feat in conference history following a 28-7 record with a 1.44 ERA. Quevedo batted .321 and led the team in homers (12) and RBI (44).

Lipscomb’s Caroline Mason joined Platt and Kennesaw State’s Sharon Swanson in the outfield on the first team. Mason’s .318 average topped the Lady Bisons’ offense as she also added a team-best nine home runs and 10 doubles. With 14 homers, Swanson led the conference to go along with her 49 RBI and 113 total bases.

Campbell’s Amanda Miller, Stetson’s Jill Semento and ETSU’s Sam Lower completed the first team all-conference infield. Miller ranked in the top-ten of the conference in batting average (.338), slugging percentage (.589) and RBI (36). Semento started all 50 games for Hatters this season and finished the year with a .300 average at the plate and a team-leading nine four-baggers and 29 RBI. Lower’s .353 average ranked fifth in the A-Sun, while her 47 hits tied her for the team lead.

Kennesaw State placed three players on the second team; Ashlee Burkett, Jessica Cross and Sara Sikes, while Lipscomb’s Whitney Kiihnl earned her third A-Sun All-Conference selection.

Mercer’s McKenzie Woody earned the lone all-freshman unanimous selection, while UNF’s Cortney Radke picked up the Freshman of the Year honor. FGCU earned three all-freshman selections to lead the conference as Tori Williams, Emily Lanier and Kirsten Bembnowski represented the Eagles.

The 2011 Atlantic Sun Softball Championship begins on Wednesday with No. 4 Campbell taking on No. 5 Mercer at 2 p.m. and No. 3 USC Upstate facing No. 6 Kennesaw State. All games of the championship will be broadcasted for free on ASun.TV.

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The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.