ROCK HILL, S.C. --- Tusculum freshman outfielder Sammie West was selected to the South Atlantic Conference Softball Championship All-Tournament team, the league office announced Tuesday.
West was 5-for-10 (.500) in three games with a home run, a stolen base and four runs scored for the Pioneers. West also drew a pair of walks for a .583 on-base percentage to go with an .800 slugging percentage in the tournament, which saw Tusculum finish with a 1-2 record.
Against Lenoir-Rhyne in Thursday's tournament opener, West was 2-for-4 with a walk, a stolen base and a run scored in a 5-4 extra-inning loss to the Bears. West followed up on Friday with a leadoff home run as part of a 2-for-3 effort in a 9-4 comeback win over Wingate, then went 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored in a season-ending 8-1 loss to Coker.
West, a native of Maiden, North Carolina, was a second-team All-SAC selection after finishing the season with a .386 average, four home runs and 28 runs batted in. She led the Pioneers in runs scored (45) and doubles (18), both school single-season records in the Division II era (since 1999). West also had a team-best four triples and 13 stolen bases, ranked second in batting average, on-base percentage (.466), slugging percentage (.466), hits (64) and walks (25) and was third in runs batted in.
In conference games only, West ranked fourth in doubles, tied for sixth in triples, seventh in walks and 10th in on-base percentage. Her 48 total bases in league games were third-best among SAC players, as were her 30 hits, while her nine doubles and three triples ranked her second in league games in both categories.
Pitcher Lacie Rinus of Carson-Newman was named SAC Softball Championship Most Valuable Player after tossing four complete-game victories to lead the Eagles to the title.
Tusculum finished the 2017 season with a 28-25 record and in seventh place in the SAC with a 10-10 league mark. As a team, the Pioneers set all-time school single-season records for home runs (40), walks (154) and sacrifice flies (18), while setting a Division II-era record for on-base percentage at .365.
2017 SAC Softball All-Tournament Team
Lacie Rinus, Carson-Newman (MVP)
KaraLynne Levi, Carson-Newman
Kristen Toppel, Carson-Newman
Allie Webster, Carson-Newman
Tayler Barcomb, Coker
Casey Simmons, Coker
Natalie Willis, Newberry
Haley Simonds, Newberry
Madison Carter, Lenoir-Rhyne
Sammie West, Tusculum
Misty Doran, Wingate
