All-NAC Softball awards announced
Northern Athletics Conference, Sports Information Department
MILWAUKEE -- Dominican's Sarah Budz and Benedictine's Brittany Adcox and were named the 2011 Northern Athletics Conference Player and Pitcher of the Year and headlined the All-NAC softball awards for the 2011 season, the conference office announced.
Additionally Benedictine's Kelly Mieszala was named Freshman of the Year, while her and Adcox's coach, Kate Keller, was named Coach of the Year.
In addition to the four major awards, first and second teams were announced along with honorable mention selections and the 10-member All-Freshman Team. The All-Sportsmanship Team included one member from each school and was chosen based on the principles of sportsmanship as promoted by the NAC and NCAA.
Budz, a junior second baseman for the Stars (23-13, 15-9 NAC), currently leads the NAC in batting (.500), hits (63), RBIs (53) and runs (50), and is second in slugging percentage (.937), on-base percentage (.547) and home runs (11). Budz has stolen 19 bases this season, and defensively she has committed only three errors in over 100 chances for a .971 fielding percentage.
Adcox, honored with her second-straight Pitcher of the Year award, leads the conference with a 1.42 ERA, 21 wins (21-6), 152 strikeouts and is holding opponents to just a .195 batting average, also tops in the NAC.
Teammate Mieszala hit .407 in her rookie campaign with 24 RBIs and a .580 slugging percentage. Of her 33 hits, the outfielder had 12 doubles and one triple and stole nine bases in 12 attempts.
Keller led the Eagles (34-6, 22-2 NAC) to their second-straight NAC title. Her Eagles currently boast the NAC's best ERA (1.78) and batting average (.387), both of which are in the top 20 in all of NCAA Division III.
All awards were voted on by the league's head coaches.
