NORFOLK, Va. – Sophomore outfielder
Haley Ward of the Norfolk State softball team was named the MEAC Player of the Year on Thursday, as the conference office announced the postseason all-conference awards. Ward was also one of five Spartan players to earn either first or second-team All-MEAC honors.
Ward became NSU's first-ever MEAC player of the year and its second-ever major award winner – Player, Rookie, Pitcher or Coach of the Year – after Charo Tate earned rookie of the year honors in 1998. Ward also earned a spot on the All-MEAC first team as an outfielder this year. She was joined on the first team by sophomore second baseman
Alina Moriarty and freshman third baseman
Whitney Williams.
Junior pitcher
Jamie Schulle and junior outfielder
Morgan Boyd were each tabbed to the second team. NSU had the most all-conference players in the league this year and tied the 2009 NSU team for the most in program history since moving to the MEAC.
It was also the first time the Spartans ever had three players find their way onto the All-MEAC first-team.
A native of Virginia Beach, Va., Ward ranks first in the nation in batting average (.504) as well as in the top 25 nationally in doubles, triples, RBI and runs per game and slugging and on-base percentage. On the year she has totaled 37 runs on 60 hits with 17 doubles, five triples, five home runs, 40 RBI, an .857 slugging percentage and a .531 on-base percentage.
She leads the MEAC in batting average, on-base percentage, doubles and triples and ranks in the top 5 in slugging, hits, RBI and total bases. It marks the second straight year Ward was named first-team all-conference. She was also tabbed the MEAC preseason Player of the Year this season.
Moriarty ranks in the top 6 in the conference in batting average, slugging, runs, hits, RBI, doubles, home runs and total bases, including second in RBI with 46. On the year she owns a .369 batting average with 42 runs on 58 hits with 13 doubles, one triple and seven home runs. The Chesapeake, Va., native ranks 45th in the nation in RBI per game as well as in the top 75 in both runs and doubles. She needs one more RBI to tie the NSU Division I record.
Williams, who hails from Four Oaks, N.C., gives NSU three players in the top 10 in the MEAC in hitting with her .361 batting average. She has totaled 23 runs on 44 hits with eight doubles, one triple, one home run and 21 RBI.
Moriarty is NSU's first all-conference second baseman since Hitomi Greene in 2007 and the only one in NSU history to earn a spot on the all-MEAC first team. Williams becomes the first Spartan to earn all-conference honors as a third baseman since Mashanta Todd in 1999 and, like Moriarty, the only NSU player to be tabbed to the first team at third since the program went to D-I prior to the 1998 season.
Boyd, who was named preseason All-MEAC, ranks second in the conference in stolen bases and third in runs as well as 18th in the nation in stolen bases per game and 33rd in runs. She owns a .303 average with 44 runs on 43 hits. She is a perfect 29-of-29 on stolen base attempts this year and has been safe on 55 of her last 56 attempts dating back to the end of her freshman season. A native of Chesapeake, Boyd set NSU's D-I record for stolen bases this year and needs three more runs to tie that D-I record as well.
Boyd and Ward give NSU five all-conference outfielders in the last three years, joining Ward in 2012 and
Danielle Wright and Jeanette Sauceda in 2011. Only Boyd this year was not named first team among the five.
Schulle owns a 16-11 overall record this season with a 3.13 ERA, striking out 111 in 158.2 innings of work. She ranks second in the conference in opposing batting average (.263) third in strikeouts and wins and fourth in ERA. The native of Maxwell, Texas is NSU's first all-conference pitcher since Alyssa Velazquez in 2009.
Moriarty, Schulle and Boyd earned all-conference honors for the first time in their careers as well.
Torrian Wright of Savannah State was named the MEAC Rookie of the Year, and Hampton's Jailynn Jackson earned Pitcher of the Year honors. Bethune-Cookman's Chris Cochran was tabbed the Coach of the Year.
Voting was done by the conference's head coach and sports information directors.
NSU will play Savannah State at 1:30 p.m. today in the first round of the MEAC tournament.
2013 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Softball All-Conference Awards
First Team
Pos Name School Class Ht. Hometown
P Jailynn Jackson Hampton So. 5-8 Virginia Beach, Va.
P Madison Hedderly Savannah State Sr. 5-10 Dublin, Ohio
C Sabrina Edmonds North Carolina A&T Jr. 5-8 Riverside, Calif.
1B Ashley Bennet Delaware State Fr. 5-9 Delmare, Del.
2B Alina Moriarty Norfolk State So. 5-3 Chesapeake, Va.
3B Whitney Williams Norfolk State Fr. 5-6 Fort Oaks, N.C.
SS Margaret Wilkins Hampton Jr. 5-10 Tustin, Calif.
OF Haley Ward Norfolk State So. 5-7 Virginia Beach, Va.
OF Raven Smith North Carolina A&T So. 5-3 Raleigh, N.C.
OF Ashanti Shepherd Florida A&M Sr. 5-6 Moore Haven, Fla.
UTL Rochelle Sablay Delaware State Fr. 5-5 La Mirada, Calif.
Second Team
Pos Name School Class Ht. Hometown
P Jennifer Lindsey Florida A&M Sr. 5-6 Jacksonville, Fla.
P Jamie Schulle Norfolk State Jr. 5-7 Maxwell, Texas
C Sandy Hawthorne Delaware State Fr. 5-5 Smithtown, N.Y.
1B Torrian Wright Savannah State Fr. 5-6 McDonough, Ga.
2B Nicole Gazzola Delaware State Fr. 5-4 Coram, N.Y.
3B Kerissa Burruel Hampton So. 5-3 Phoenix, Ariz.
SS Aurelia Gamch Bethune-Cookman Sr. 5-2 Madera, Calif.
OF Michelle Banuetos-Smith Bethune-Cookman Sr. 5-4 Mission Hills, Calif.
OF Jasmine James Maryland Eastern Shore Sr. 5-1 Willingboro, N.J.
OF* Antonette Smith Savannah State Fr. 5-5 Ellenwood, Ga.
OF* Morgan Boyd Norfolk State Jr. 5-3 Chesapeake, Va.
UTL Vanessa Gomez Maryland Eastern Shore Fr. 5-4 Belleville, N.J.
*indicates tie
Player of the Year: Haley Ward, Norfolk State
Rookie of the Year: Torrian Wright, Savannah State
Pitcher of the Year: Jailynn Jackson, Hampton
Coach of the Year: Chris Cochran, Bethune-Cookman
