5/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Six Named All-Big South Along With Coach of the Year
ROCK HILL, S.C. - The Coastal Carolina softball team swept top honors at the 2003 Big South Conference softball luncheon in Rock Hill, S.C., May 8. At the luncheon held prior to the start of the tournament, senior Holly Lee was named Player of the Year, freshman Christine Doyle earned the conference’s Rookie of the Year honor, head coach Jess Dannelly was named Coach of the Year, with senior Morgan Tolleson garnering Big South Softball Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. The MVP, Freshman of the Year, Coach of the Year and All-Conference teams are chosen by the head softball coaches and sports information directors at each member institution which sponsors softball. The All-Academic Team and Softball Scholar-Athlete are chosen by the League’s sports information directors.
Lee picked up her fourth First Team All-Big South honor in her career to go with the league’s Most Valuable Player award. The senior from Darlington, SC finished the regular season as the Big South’s leader in eight major offensive categories - batting average (.368), walks (33), home runs (15), on-base percentage (.485), slugging percentage (.757), RBIs (45), runs scored (30) and total bases (103). She has set a new Coastal career record with 44 home runs and tied the single-season mark with 15 this season. A three-time All-Region at three different positions, she is Coastal’s all-time home run leader with 44 and ranks in the top-10 all-time in RBIs (2nd, 161), slugging percentage (4th, .633), walks (t-4th, 75), runs scored (6th, 118), hits (6th, 203), on-base percentage (6th, .422) and batting average (7th, .351).
A native of Teaneck, N.J., Doyle has a team-best 18-7 record, including a league-best 4-1 in Big South play. She has a 1.53 ERA with 122 strikeouts in 174.0 innings pitched. Her 18 wins tied for the most by any pitcher in the conference (done in fewer appearances) and is the seventh-best single-season total in school history. Her 18 wins also tie her for eighth on Coastal’s career charts and her 122 strikeouts tie for the eighth-highest total in school history. Doyle has victories this year over #21 South Florida and #18 South Carolina. She also recorded Coastal’s first-ever perfect game in an 8-0 win over BSC-rival Winthrop.
Tolleson, also a 2003 First Team All-Big South selection as the designated player and a member of the All-Academic Team, ranks third on the team with a .305 batting average with 13 RBIs and 14 runs scored. In Big South play, Tolleson hit .333 with She also had her first career home run, high school or college, to spark Coastal to a recent win over #15 South Carolina, just the program’s second win over the Gamecocks. The Houston, Texas resident has also made her impact in the circle, recording an 8-4 record with a 2.21 ERA, including earning BSC Pitcher of the Week honors after a two-hit shutout of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Dannelly picked up his sixth Big South Coach of the Year award after leading the Lady Chants to a 34-15 regular season record, including an 8-2 mark in the Big South and the conference’s regular season title. Dannelly picked up his 500th career softball coaching win earlier this season and has a 521-354 record overall.
Joining the three on the All-Conference teams were first-teamers seniors Kimberly Josephson and Kelli Julg and Second Team All-Big South selection senior Amanda DeGrendele.
A native of Pinehurst, Texas, Josephson has been a catalyst down the stretch for CCU to earn her third All-Big South and second first team league honor. As Coastal’s leadoff hitter and starting centerfielder, she has raised her batting average 86 points in the last 13 games to a season-high .338 and leads the league with three triples. Josephson currently ranks third in career batting average (.339), hits with 213 (5th), stolen bases with 28 (5th), triples at 10 (t-6th) and games played at 212 (10th).
From Salem, Virginia, Julg has been the starter at shortstop for Coastal Carolina in all 49 games this season, averaging .289 at the plate, fourth-best on the team. Now a two-time First Team All-Big South selection at shortstop, she has seven doubles, 20 RBIs and 13 runs scored and has made her impact on the lineup since moving to the clean-up spot midway through the year.
DeGrendele has been a key factor in the Lady Chants late run, making the shift to first base midway through the year and taking advantage of it. The Patterson, California native is hitting .224 with 19 runs scored, but has been even better since the move, hitting .283 with an on-base percentage of .377 with just two errors in 20 games at first.
The top-seeded Lady Chanticleers open pursuit of their third Big South Conference Tournament title in four years tonight, May 8, as they take on the winner of No. 4 Elon and No. 5 Winthrop. Game time in Rock Hill is scheduled for 7 p.m.
