Ten SAC Softball Players Named To NFCA All-Region Team

STARKVILLE, Miss. - The NFCA has announced the 2010 Louisville Slugger/NFCA NCAA Division II All-Region teams. This year's teams are comprised of 207 student-athletes from 91 institutions spread out over the eight NFCA regions, with a first and second team for each region.

Ten representatives from the South Atlantic Conference were selected to the Southeast Region team. Conference and tournament champion Lenoir-Rhyne University led the way with six selections.

Four players, including three from Lenoir-Rhyne, were named to the First Team.

NFCA member coaches in each of the eight regions select the Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Region teams and all honorees are now eligible to be selected to one of three All-American teams.

The 2010 Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-American teams will be announced at the 2010 NCAA Banquet of Champions at the Fulkerson Center on the campus of Missouri Western University in St. Joseph, Mo., on Wednesday night, May 26. The entire list of 2010 All-Americans, and its accompanying release, will be placed on NFCA.org later that evening.

Lenoir-Rhyne

Kat Rivers	Sarah Atkins
Brittany Cherry	Alex Smith
Dawon Millwood	Ashley Duckworth
LaRonda McClain	Jessie Howard
Amanda Huckestein	Aissa Gatewood

Lenoir-Rhyne University's Kat Rivers (Royston, Ga.), sophomore catcher Sarah Atkins (Newport News, Va.), and senior outfielder Brittany Cherry (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) were named to the NFCA All-Southeast Region first team. Freshman pitcher Alex Smith (Cocoa, Fla.), sophomore pitcher Dawon Millwood (Hixson, Tenn.), and senior designated player Ashley Duckworth (Hickory, N.C.) were chosen to the second team.

Rivers, a junior shortstop, currently leads Lenoir-Rhyne in several offensive categories including batting average (.438) and slugging percentage (.866) and holds the school single-season record for runs (64), hits (88) and total bases (174). Rivers' 22 home runs this year is a South Atlantic Conference record and is tied for the national lead and her 34 career round-trippers is a school mark as well. Rivers, a three-time all-league and two-time all-region honoree, was named the South Atlantic Conference Player Of The Year last month.

Atkins, a two-time first-team all-conference selection (2009-10), broke the school record for runs batted in this year with 63 and is currently hitting .354 with 14 home runs. Atkins also won the 2010 Food Lion SAC Tournament MVP honors.

Cherry, L-R's all-time leader in hits (267) and doubles (61), is a three-time all-conference honoree as well and is batting .360 with a team-leading 22 doubles this season.

Smith currently sports a 25-4 record with a 1.72 earned run average and 112 strikeouts after being named to the 2010 All-SAC Second Team.

Millwood, a two-time all-league pick (2009-10), is 21-3 on the year to go along with a 1.74 ERA and 196 strikeouts. In two seasons, Millwood has a combined 39-7 record.

Duckworth, in her lone season with the Bears, has hit 18 home runs (second-best on the squad) and has driven in 49 runs while starting all 60 games as a designated player.

Lenoir-Rhyne (53-7), ranked No. 8 in the country, faces top-ranked North Georgia (48-0) in the 2010 NCAA Division II Softball Southeast Super Regional Tournament beginning Friday in a best-of-three series at Dahlonega, Ga.

Carson-Newman

Carson-Newman senior shortstop Jessie Howard (Knoxville, Tenn.) has been named to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA NCAA Division II All-Southeast Region team.

Howard garnered second team honors after leading the Lady Eagles to a 37-12 record this season and a South Atlantic Conference record sixth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance. She was among the SAC leaders in batting average (.385), hits (65), triples (four) and stolen bases (33).

Top-ranked North Georgia, the NCAA's only undefeated team at any level, led this year's awards by placing five players on the Southeast Region first-team. The Saints also placed one player on the second team to give them six total all-region selections. The only other teams with six total selections were No. 4 Metro State from the Central region, No. 8 Lenoir-Rhyne also from the Southeast region and No. 11 Emporia State and No. 19 Angelo State, both from the South Central region.

Newberry

Newberry College's Amanda Huckestein and Aissa Gatewood have been named to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA NCAA Division II All-Southeast Region second team.

The 2009 and 2010 South Atlantic Conference Pitcher of the Year, Huckestein (Port Charlotte, Fla.) established a Newberry College record with 217 strikeouts, compiling a 19-8 record with a 1.07 ERA, pitching 20 complete games with 10 shutouts. Huckestein's opponents only managed a .175 batting average against her.

She currently ranks 10th in the nation in hits allowed per game (4.33) and 12th in the nation in ERA, strikeouts per seven innings (9.3) and shutouts. She led the South Atlantic Conference in ERA and allowed only 101 hits in 163.1 innings pitched with only 44 walks.

Gatewood (North Charleston, S.C.) earned First Team All-South Atlantic Conference honors earlier this season. Gatewood started in all 38 games for Newberry and excelled as a leadoff hitter with a .451 on-base percentage. Gatewood posted a .356 batting average as well with 37 hits in 104 at bats. Gatewood managed five RBIs and a team-leading 31 runs scored. Additionally, Gatewood went 21-for-23 on stolen base attempts and maintained a .979 fielding percentage.

Wingate

Wingate University senior outfielder LaRonda McClain (Kings Mountain, N.C.) earned NFCA first team All-Region honors, officials announced this week. The four-time All-SAC honoree earns All-Region honors for the second straight season.

McClain led the Bulldogs with her .377 batting average. She also led the way with 63 hits, 39 runs scored and 10 stolen bases on the season. McClain had a team-high .453 on base percentage, while ranking second with 23 walks and 12 sacrifices.

During the 2010 season, McClain notched a team-best 16 multi-hit games. She also topped the charts with five three-hit performances. In her career, the four-time All-SAC selection hit .375 with 250 hits, 150 runs scored, and 73 stolen bases in 82 attempts in 198 games played. She also drew 65 walks and had 31 sacrifices.

On Wingate's all-time charts, McClain finished second in hits, stolen bases, at-bats and third in runs. Her 65 walks are the most in school history. The Bulldogs went 136-68-1 in McClain's four years, with a 38-22 SAC record. McClain helped lead the 2009 team to the regular season SAC title. The 2010 team earned a number 10 ranking in the NFCA top 25 poll, the highest mark in school history.

The entire list of this year's All-Region selections are available here.

Louisville Slugger/NFCA NCAA Division II Southeast Region
First Team

Pos. Name School
P Sarah Phillips North Georgia
P Sarah DeMuth Augusta State
C Sarah Atkins Lenoir-Rhyne
1B Katherine Martin North Georgia
2B Laura Voyles North Georgia
3B Jelena Shaw UNC Pembroke
SS Kat Rivers Lenoir-Rhyne
OF Lauren Dykes North Georgia
OF Brittany Cherry Lenoir-Rhyne
OF LaRonda McClain Wingate
DP Leslie Smith North Georgia
UT/Pitcher Shelby Duff Armstrong Atlantic
UT/Non-Pitcher Larissa Shannon Erskine

Second Team

Pos. Name School
P Dawon Millwood Lenoir-Rhyne
P (Tie) Alex Smith Lenoir-Rhyne
P (Tie) Amanda Huckstein Newberry
C Rocky Hemmer Columbus State
1B Courtney Davis Erskine
2B April Jowers Armstrong Atlantic
3B Bailee Temples Armstrong Atlantic
SS Jessie Howard Carson-Newman
OF Pilar Harden North Georgia
OF Aissa Gatewood Newberry
OF Kristen Jones Augusta State
DP Ashley Duckworth Lenoir-Rhyne
UT/Pitcher Michaela Wolf Francis Marion