5/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
headlines May 10, 2006
Softball Takes Three Top Big South Awards
Meagen Johnson Named Player of the Year and Scholar Athlete of the Year; Dannelly Named Coach of the Year for the Seventh Time
RADFORD, VA. – The Coastal Carolina University softball team had six players selected to the All-Big South First and Second Teams and had the Big South Player of the Year, Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Coach of the Year, the conference office announced at the softball tournament banquet before the start of the 2006 Aeropostale Big South Softball Tournament, May 10.
Senior Meagen Johnson (Georgetown, S.C./Georgetown (Furman) was named the Big South Softball Player of the Year. She is the seventh Coastal softball player to win the award and fourth in the last six years. She also earned First Team Honors as a designated player. This season, Johnson leads Coastal in batting average (.400), hits (52), home runs (20), slugging percentage (.938), on-base percentage (.506), runs batted-in (56), total bases (122) and walks (30). She leads the Big South in home runs, RBI and slugging percentage while placing second in walks and third in batting average. Johnson’s 20 home runs this season set the all-time Coastal single season mark and her RBI total is the third best in a single season at CCU. She was named the Big South Player of the Week three times while also winning Big South Pitcher honors once. She became the first player in league history to ever be named both the Player and Pitcher of the Week in the same week, March 27. From the circle Johnson had a record of 9-3 with a 1.65 earned-run average. In 89.1 innings pitched this year, Johnson amassed 98 strikeouts while only allowing 70 hits. Johnson was also honored by the league as the 2006 Scholar-Athlete of the Year with cumulative grade-point average of 3.86 in history.
Coastal head coach Jess Dannelly earned Coach of the Year honors for the seventh time in his career. He guided the Lady Chanticleers to a 35-20 regular-season record and a 10-2 Big South record, winning the regular season championship for the seventh time in school history. Dannelly’s team won its last five Big South regular season games to close the season and earn a first round bye in the Aeropostale Big South Softball Tournament. Dannelly earned Coach of the Year honors in 1992, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003.
Coastal had three more first team members and two second-team honorees. Senior Sara Hostetler (Albuquerque, N.M./Valley), senior Kelly Feely (Livermore, Calif./Granada) and redshirt junior Christine Doyle (Rio Rico, Ariz./Immaculate Heart Academy) were first team selections, while junior Danyelle Gerdts (Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Academy) and junior Kristina Sheppard (Galveston, Texas/Ball) were named to the second team.
Hostetler, a third baseman, was a First-Team Big South selection for the third consecutive season and an All-Big South Selection for the fourth time in her career. This season Hostetler is hitting .275 with two home runs, 23 RBI and 34 runs scored. She is tied for fourth in the conference in runs scored and since moving to the leadoff role Coastal has gone 27-8 this season. Hostetler was named the Big South Player of the Week on March 20. She had a team-best 10 game hitting streak from March 11-22. In Big South games this season, she is hitting a team-best .400 with a home run, six RBI and 10 runs scored.
Feely earned first team honors as an outfielder, hitting .262 with six home runs and 30 RBI. In conference games this season she is hitting .325 with six RBI. Feely had memorable three home run doubleheader against Elon on April 11. Feely was named the Big South Player of the Week on April 17.
Doyle earned first team honors as a pitcher. The redshirt junior is 17-7 this season with a 1.29 ERA and three saves in 33 appearances. The 17 wins are tied for the conference lead while her ERA is the second best in the league this season. Doyle’s three saves are tied for 23rd nationally. She was also a two-time recipient of Big South Pitcher of the Week honors this season. She threw the second no-hitter of her career against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi this season on March 17. In Big South games, Doyle is 6-1 with a 0.48 ERA and has only allowed three earned runs in 44 innings from the circle.
Gerdts made the second team as an outfielder. The junior has appeared in 49 games, hitting .256 with 33 hits, five triples, 17 RBI and 34 runs scored. She is tied for the conference lead in triples while ranking tied for fourth in the Big South in runs scored. In Big South play, Gerdts hit an impressive .300 with seven runs scored. She has had nine multi-hit games and six multi-RBI games this season. Gerdts went 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored against North Florida, March 22.
Sheppard earned second team honors as a second baseman. The junior appeared in 54 games this season with 40 hits, seven doubles, two triples, six home runs and 29 RBI. In Big South games this season, Sheppard is hitting .286 with four doubles and four RBI. She is second on the team with 10 multi-hit games and nine multi-RBI games. She went 2-for-3 with a career-best five RBI against Ohio State, March 5.
In other specialty awards, Radford’s Ashley Taylor earned Pitcher of the Year honors and Winthrop’s Tessa Thomas was named the Freshman of the Year.
Coastal Carolina’s softball team, who are the #1 seed, will begin play in Aeropostale Big South Softball Tournament on Thursday, May 11 against the winner of #4 seed Birmingham-Southern and #5 seed Winthrop at 5 p.m.
2006 Big South All-Conference Awards
First Team
OF Kelly Feely-Coastal Carolina
OF Ann Tatum-Radford
OF Tessa Thomas-Winthrop
1B Nikki Rombough-Birmingham-Southern
2B Dawn Jeffs-Liberty
3B Sara Hostetler-Coastal Carolina
SS Jessica Moore-Liberty
C Amanda Walling-Radford
DP Meagen Johnson-Coastal Carolina
UT Jill Shondell-Charleston Southern
P Christine Doyle-Coastal Carolina
P Ashley Taylor-Radford
Second Team
OF Kelly Backlund-Birmingham-Southern
OF Ashley Robinson-Charleston Southern
OF Danyelle Gerdts-Coastal Carolina
1B Hilary Peacock-Winthrop
2B Dorothy Page-Charleston Southern
2B Kristina Sheppard-Coastal Carolina
3B Heather Fox-Birmingham-Southern
SS Cassie Rhodes-Radford
C Ashley Williams-Liberty
DP Laura Hill-Winthrop
UT Danielle Tompkins-Radford
P Kristina Villavicencio-Birmingham-Southern
Academic All-Conference
Jennifer Welborn-Birmingham-Southern
Katie McKay-Charleston Southern
Meagen Johnson-Coastal Carolina
Sarah Swor-Liberty
Michelle Carlson-Radford
Erica Armenta-Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Laura Hill-Winthrop
Player of the Year
Meagen Johnson-Coastal Carolina
Pitcher of the Year
Ashley Taylor-Radford
Freshman of the Year
Tess Thomas-Winthrop
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Meagen Johnson-Coastal Carolina
Coach of the Year
Jess Dannelly-Coastal Carolina
There are no events currently schedule for this sport. There are no events currently schedule for this sport. There are no events currently schedule for this sport. » » » » » » Copyright 2009 Coastal Carolina University.No use of links, logos, photographs or information without the express written consent of Coastal Carolina University.
Questions or input, please contact the webmaster at .
