Tusculum College junior pitcher Elizabeth Johnson and freshman
utility player Kaytlin Stroinski have been named first-team
All-South Atlantic Conference in softball, as voted upon by the
league's head coaches and announced by the SAC office
Wednesday.
Johnson and Stroinski are the first Pioneers to earn first-team
All-SAC honors since the duo of Brie Griffin and Ali White in 2004.
Johnson is also the first Tusculum pitcher to receive
All-Conference status since Natasha Lindsey was a second-team pick,
also in 2004.
Tusculum finished 30-23 overall and 9-9 in the SAC, earning the
fifth seed in the championship tournament where they will play
fourth-seeded Carson-Newman in the opening game on Thursday at
10:30 a.m. at Red Edmonds Field.
Johnson, a native of Greenville, Wisc. and a second-team All-Region
pick last season, has been a workhorse for the Pioneers this
season. She leads the team in every pitching category, compiling a
25-11 record with a 2.00 earned run average and 30 complete games
in 37 starts.
Johnson, who has worked 249 innings this season, was the first
pitcher in Division II to reach 20 wins in 2012 and at one point
led all of college softball in victories. She entered the week
ranked fifth in Division II with her 25 victories, and is among the
SAC leaders in nearly every pitching statistic.
The righthander has started 37 of the Pioneers' 53 games and
accounted for 25 of their 30 wins. Johnson has struck out 122
batters in her 249 innings of work and issued just 67 walks. In 14
starts against SAC opposition, Johnson went 8-5 with a 2.37 earned
run average, including 11 complete games and one shutout.
Stroinski leads the Pioneers in batting average (.321), runs scored
(29), hits (45), home runs (three), total bases (65), slugging
percentage (.464), on-base percentage (.421) and stolen bases
(seven).
The Howell, Mich. native had the team's longest hitting streak of
the season (14 games) and posted a team-high 10 multi-hit games.
She ranked 10th in the conference in on-base percentage and was
tied for sixth in walks.
As a pitcher, Stroinski finished with a record of 2-9 with a
respectable 3.14 earned run average in 15 appearances (nine
starts). Stroinski struck out 38 batters in 71 1/3 innings and
threw six complete games in nine starts, including a 1-0 shutout of
Catawba on March 31 for her first career victory.
Abby Child of Anderson was named Player of the Year, with Pitcher
of the Year honors going to Dawon Millwood of Lenoir-Rhyne.
Anderson's Jessica Neidigh took the award for Freshman of the Year,
and Lenoir-Rhyne's Shena Hollar was selected Coach of the Year
after leading the Bears to the SAC championship.
2012 South Atlantic Conference Softball
All-Conference Teams
First Team
C - Sarah Atkins, Lenoir-Rhyne
1B - Jessica Fellmeth, Lenoir-Rhyne
2B - Jessica Neidigh, Anderson
SS - Abby Child, Anderson
3B - Natalie Haithcox, Mars Hill
OF - Briana Mulkey, Lincoln Memorial
OF - Brittany Fowler, Brevard
OF - Cassidy Skeen, Carson-Newman
DP - Amanda Snow, Lincoln Memorial
Util. - Kaytlin Stroinski,
Tusculum
SP - Dawon Millwood, Lenoir-Rhyne
SP - Elizabeth Johnson,
Tusculum
Second Team
C - Betsy Braswell, Wingate
1B - Caitlyn Lance, Carson-Newman
2B - Chelsi Mallory, Brevard
SS - Bridget Eicher, Lincoln Memorial
3B - Haily Jarman, Lenoir-Rhyne
OF - Marie Mauhar, Lenoir-Rhyne
OF - Brittany Coursen, Lenoir-Rhyne
OF - Rebecca Martin, Anderson
DP - Amber Duncan, Anderson
Util. - Brittany Phillips, Newberry
SP - Kayla Clemens, Brevard
SP - Brittany Murray, Catawba*
SP - Mary Shealy, Carson-Newman*
* tied for final second-team pitcher selection
Player of the Year: Abby
Child, Anderson
Pitcher of the Year: Dawon
Millwood, Lenoir-Rhyne
Freshman of the Year:
Jessica Neidigh, Anderson
Coach of the Year: Shena
Hollar, Lenoir-Rhyne