Conference Carolinas Announces All-Conference Softball Honors
Conference Carolinas Announces All-Conference Softball Honors
High Point, N.C.> Conference Carolinas All-Conference Teams were determined by vote from each softball head coach of participating league institutions. Nominations are collected and then voted upon by ballot and tallied to determine Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Coach of the Year, All-Conference First Team, and All-Conference Second Team. Awards were presented at the Conference Carolinas softball team banquet at the Conference Tournament Championships hosted by Coker College at Byerly Park, in Hartsville SC. This year's award winners are as follows:
Player of the Year:
Larissa Shannon, Erskine
Larissa Shannon slugged a conference-best 17 home runs while batting .391 on the season. The junior catcher/designated player hit three home runs against archrival Anderson University, including a 3-run walk-off home run. Shannon needs just two more homeruns to tie Erskine's single-season homerun record of 19 set in 2010.
Pitcher of the Year:
Chantel Dodge, Queens University of Charlotte
Senior Chantel Dodge went 20-9 on the mound to earn Pitcher of the Year honors for the second time in her career. Queens' Most Outstanding Female Senior Athlete leads the conference in wins, shutouts and innings pitched, and her 10 shutouts rank her 10th in the nation in the category. Dodge struck out 139 batters this season giving her a total of 736 career strikeouts, the most in Queens' history. Her 1.44 ERA led the Royals to a third place overall finish in Conference Carolinas with a 16-5 league and 28-22 overall record.
Freshman of the Year:
Ericka McCarson, Erskine
The freshman third baseman hit .276 along with seven home runs while leading the team in stolen bases (8) from her lead-off position. Three times McCarson led off a game with a homerun, including hitting one in her first collegiate at-bat against Wingate University. McCarson helped Erskine claim the fourth seed in the conference tournament with a 14-8 league mark and 21-21 overall record.
Coach of the Year:
Jaime Kylis-Higginbotham, Mount Olive College
Jaime Kylis-Higginbotham guided Mount Olive to the East Division regular season league title with a 17-5 conference mark, the Trojans' highest win total in conference play in school history. Mount Olive finished the regular season with a 31-15 mark for the Trojans' first 30-win season since 2007. Mount Olive went 12-2 in its last 14 conference games and won 15 of its last 18 regular season games overall.
Eastern Division Regular Season Champions
Mount Olive College
Western Division Regular Season Champions
North Greenville University
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All-Conference First Team:
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All-Conference Second Team:
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Kirstyn Burleson- Limestone, 1st Base
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Kirsten Patterson- Pfeiffer, 1st Base
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Cora Milliken- King, 2nd Base
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Carol-Anne Sherrill-Belmont Abbey,
2nd Base
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Ericka McCarson- Erskine, 3rd Base
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Kalie Smith- Mount Olive, 3rd Base
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Christina Melcher- King, SS
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Jennifer Jones- Mount Olive, SS
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Megan Lathbury- Queens, DP
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Bryant McLendon- Coker, DP
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Larissa Shannon-Erskine, UT
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Robbin Kennedy- Mount Olive, UT
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Fallon Thomas -King, Catcher
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Stacy Burr- Coker, Catcher
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Ashlyn Hicks- Erskine, Catcher
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Amber Faust- Belmont Abbey, Catcher
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Jenna Guse- Limestone, Outfield
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Whitney Britt- Queens, Outfield
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Kayla Voorhees- Mount Olive, Outfield
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Morgan Purcell-Erskine, Outfield
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Sydney Weatherford- Coker, Outfield
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Keeya Turner- Queens, Outfield
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Chantel Dodge- Queens, Pitcher
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Kelsey Spurrier-Erskine, Pitcher
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Laurel Gregg-Lees-McRae, Pitcher
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Lauren Smith- Mount Olive, Pitcher
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Rachel Glazebrook- North Greenville, Pitcher
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Hannah Light- King, Pitcher
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(Related: Picture Gallery Link): Courtesy of Coker Sports Information
2012 Conference Carolinas Softball Tournament Banquet
Head Coaches of Regular Season Divisional Champions. (L- Mount Olive, R- North Greenville) |
Individual Award Winners (L-R Pitcher of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Player of the Year, Coach of the Year) |
Second Team All-Conference |
Pitchers of the Week |
Players of the Week |
First Team All-Conference |
Conference Carolinas is a NCAA Division II athletic conference currently made up of 12 teams from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. These institutions consist of: Barton College, Belmont Abbey College, Coker College, Converse College, Erskine College, King College, Lees-McRae College, Limestone College, Mount Olive College, North Greenville University, Pfeiffer University, and Queens University of Charlotte.