Gary, Spears and Williams Headline All-Conference Softball Team
LAKE WALES, Fla. – The Sun Conference announced the 2011 All-Conference Softball team at the conference tournament brunch hosted by Warner at the ARP Church in Bartow on Saturday morning. The team featured 18 student-athletes representing five league teams with SCAD Savannah leading the way with seven honorees. SCAD also swept the individual accolades, taking the home Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year and the Champions of Character awards.
For the fourth straight year, Warner head coach Shawn Gary was named the league Coach of the Year. Gary guided Warner to the top of the league regular season standings for the fourth consecutive season as the Lady Royals grabbed a share of the regular season title, tying St. Thomas with a 12-3 conference record. Warner is 28-14 overall and enters the conference tournament as the No. 2 seed.
Player of the Year honors went to SCAD infielder Jessaca Spears. A junior from Sugarland, Texas, Spears started in all 40 games for the Bees in 2011, hitting .441 (56-for-127) with nine doubles, seven home runs, 38 RBI and 46 runs scored. Spears currently ranks among the nation’s Top 20 in stolen bases per game (8th, .83), total steals (12th, 33) and runs scored per game (15th, 1.2).
Spears’ senior teammate Lisa Williams garnered Pitcher of the Year recognition. Williams has pitched in 23 games for the Bees, earning a 14-4 overall record, including a 6-2 mark in conference play. The league’s only four-time conference Pitcher of the Week this season, Williams fanned 103 batters in a 123.1 innings in the circle and posted a 2.10 earned run average. She pitched 10 complete games and picked up two saves on the year.
Jackie Rooney was tabbed as the league’s Champions of Character Award winner. A senior from Cowan Heights, Calif., Rooney is a Graphic Design major at SCAD who Bees head coach Terri Knecht says “has chosen to use her graphic design skills to serve others.” She has used her talents on logo work and written material for a non-profit organization that supports women in the military that suffer sexual harassment, as well spearheading a fundraising effort to help an umpire whose daughter is battling an eating disorder.
Tournament play begins at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday with No. 1 seed St. Thomas taking on No. 4 Northwood and second-seeded Warner going up against No. 3 SCAD. The tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NAIA Softball National Championship at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex in Gulf Shores, Ala., May 19-25.
2011 Softball All-Conference Team
C - Nirana Singh, SCAD
C - Danielle Fennimore, Warner
C - Kayla Duncan, Northwood
INF - Jessaca Spears, SCAD
INF - Melissa King, St. Thomas
INF - Carissa Albizu, St. Thomas
INF - Courtney Mienkina, SCAD
INF - Brittany Gonzales, SCAD
INF - Tabitha Martin, Warner
INF - Krista Ross, SCAD
OF - Brooke Gary, Warner
OF - Amanda Kressler, SCAD
OF - Krista Wells, Ave Maria
OF - Chantall Cooper, Northwood
P - Lisa Williams, SCAD
P - Brenda Emerson, St. Thomas
P - Becky Powell, Warner
P - Michelle Crompton, Northwood
Player of the Year
Jessaca Spears, SCAD Savannah
Pitcher of the Year
Lisa Williams, SCAD Savannah
Champions of Character Award
Jackie Rooney, SCAD Savannah
Coach of the Year
Shawn Gary, Warner