Knecht, Quigley and Spears Highlight All-Conference Softball Team
Clermont, Fla. – The Sun Conference announced the 2012 All-Conference Softball team at the conference tournament banquet hosted by the National Training Center on Friday evening. The team featured 18 student-athletes representing six league teams with SCAD Savannah leading the way with five honorees. SCAD nearly swept the individual accolades for a second straight year, taking the home Player of the Year, Coach of the Year and the Champions of Character awards.
SCAD head coach Terri Knecht was named the league Coach of the Year. Knecht guided the Bees to a 22-8 overall record in what can only be described as a difficult situation, knowing that SCAD Athletics will be ending the softball program after this season. Despite the distractions, Knecht led SCAD to a No. 3 seed in this weekend’s Sun Conference Tournament after finishing 10-6 in conference play this year.
Player of the Year honors went to SCAD infielder Jessaca Spears for the second straight year. A senior from Sugarland, Texas, Spears started in all 30 games for the Bees in 2012, hitting .436 (41-for-94) with four doubles, four home runs, 18 RBI and 31 runs scored. Spears also currently ranks 10th in the nation in stolen bases per game at 0.83.
Webber International’s Ashley Quiglee garnered Pitcher of the Year recognition. Quiglee has pitched in 17 games for the Warriors, earning a 13-2 overall record, including a perfect 7-0 mark in conference play. Quiglee fanned 60 batters in 99.1 innings in the circle and posted a 1.34 earned run average. She pitched 11 complete games and five shutouts on the year.
The entire SCAD Savannah softball team was tabbed as the league’s Champions of Character Award winner. Coach Knecht nominated her team for the award based on the “maturity, grace and sportsmanship” that they brought to the season, despite the adversity they all faced. The Bees made the best out of a very difficult situation, and according to Coach Knecht, they “held no grudges or animosity for the situation at hand, just a desire to compete for the last time as a team at the highest level.” For the strength and fortitude the SCAD softball team exhibited throughout the 2012 season, they were collectively named the Champions of Character award winner.
Tournament play begins at 9 a.m. on Friday with No. 4 seed Warner taking on No. 5 St. Thomas. The tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NAIA Softball National Championship at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex in Gulf Shores, Ala., May 17-23.
2012 Softball All-Conference Team
C - Nirana Singh, SCAD Savannah
C - Danielle Fennimore, Warner
C - Cheyenne Benson, Ave Maria
INF - Jessaca Spears, SCAD Savannah
INF - Tabatha Martin, Warner
INF - Katie Rietkovich, USCB
INF - Jessica Lanci, Webber International
INF - Maureen Sandidge, Webber International
INF - Carissa Albizu, St. Thomas
OF - Kylie Rash, SCAD Savannah
OF - Laura Lovell, Warner
OF - Shelby Zipperer, USCB
OF - Melanie Goolsby, USCB
P - Ashlee Quigley, Webber International
P - Sydnee Schorr, SCAD Savannah
P - Kristy Cook, USCB
P - Kiana Levy, Webber International
UT - Olivia Kline, SCAD Savannah
Player of the Year
Jessaca Spears, SCAD Savannah
Pitcher of the Year
Ashley Quigley, Webber International
Champions of Character Award
SCAD Savannah Softball Team
Coach of the Year
Terri Knecht, SCAD Savannah
Academic All-Conference
Beth Vaccarezza, Ave Maria
Olivia Kline, SCAD Savannah
Kylie Rash, SCAD Savannah
Samantha White, SCAD Savannah
Anastasia Peck, St. Thomas
Noralis Lambert, St. Thomas
Hayley Padgett, Warner
Tiffany Porter, Warner
Kaitlyn Wilbanks, Warner
Lindsey Martin, Warner
Sarah Jacas, Webber International
Dallas King, Webber International