NORFOLK, Va. – A total of five Norfolk State softball players were selected to the Preseason All-MEAC Team, which was announced on Thursday by the conference office. In addition, NSU fell one point short of being picked to finish first in the Northern Division.
Senior outfielders
Shelby DesChamps and
Jazzmaine Hammond both were selected to the preseason first team. Senior pitcher
Skylar Swain, junior second baseman
Lily Potter and junior third baseman
Gabby Vaughan each landed on the second team.
The Spartans received nine of the 19 first-place votes in the North, one more than Howard. The Bison, however, had 78 points in the overall voting while NSU finished with 77. Morgan State (67 points), Delaware State (37) and Coppin State (27) finished 3-4-5 in the voting behind the Spartans. Howard had eight first-place votes to NSU's nine, while MSU gathered the other two.
Voting was done by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
Entering her sixth year with the program, DesChamps was voted last year's MEAC Preseason Player of the Year. She hit .340 in 50 at bats with 11 runs, 11 walks and eight stolen bases before the season was shut down due to COVID-19. She was named first-team all-conference and second-team VaSID All-State the last full year in 2019. DesChamps, a native of Virginia Beach, hit .383 that season and ranked second in the MEAC in runs (42) and hits (59) to go with eight doubles, 16 RBI, 22 stolen bases and a .425 on-base percentage.
Hammond was on a roll last year before the shutdown. She hit .385 in 52 at bats with 13 runs, three doubles, three home runs, 15 RBI and nine stolen bases. A native of Detroit, she batted .270 her sophomore year in 2019 with 24 runs, two doubles, three home runs, 14 RBI and 30 stolen bases. She stood 10
th in the nation in stolen bases per game (0.70) that year.
Like DesChamps, Swain was also named preseason All-MEAC last year, again landing on the second team. She earned third-team postseason honors in 2019 after going 9-7 with a MEAC-leading 2.36 ERA. The Portsmouth, Virginia native threw three shutouts that season, striking out 36 in 95.0 innings of work. In 2020, Swain pitched in 44.1 innings and held a 3-5 record with a 4.58 ERA.
Vaughan was another player who was on her way to having an outstanding 2020 season. She hit .343 in 35 at bats with seven runs, three doubles, a home run, 10 RBI and six walks. In 2019, the Chesapeake native batted .239 with 13 runs, a team-leading 10 doubles, three home runs and 22 RBI.
Another player hailing from the local area, Norfolk native Potter spent time in the circle last year after competing at second base as a freshman in 2019. She hit .333 in 69 at bats that year with 12 runs, five doubles, 12 RBI, five walks and four stolen bases.
Howard's Kalita Dennis was named the MEAC Preseason Player of the Year, while the Preseason Pitcher of the Year award went to North Carolina Central's Kiara Hurley.
Florida A&M, with 16 of 19 first-place votes, was easily picked to finish first in the Southern Division. North Carolina Central, North Carolina A&T and South Carolina State rounded out the rest of the division in that order.
NSU gets its season going on Feb. 13 with the first of two straight doubleheaders that weekend at George Mason.
2021 Predicted Order of Finish
(First-Place Votes In Parenthesis)
Northern Division
| School |
Points |
| 1. Howard (8) |
78 |
| 2. Norfolk State (9) |
77 |
| 3. Morgan State (2) |
67 |
| 4. Delaware State |
37 |
| 5. Coppin State |
26 |
Southern Division
| School |
Points |
| 1. Florida A&M (16) |
73 |
| 2. North Carolina Central (2) |
50 |
| 3. North Carolina A&T (1) |
47 |
| 4. South Carolina State |
20 |
2021 Preseason All-MEAC Team
First Team
| Position |
Name |
School |
Ht. |
Class |
Hometown |
| P |
Stephanie Rundlett |
Morgan State |
5-3 |
Sr. |
York, Maine |
| P |
Kiara Hurley |
North Carolina Central |
5-5 |
Sr. |
Maumee, Ohio |
| C |
Haylee Bobos |
Morgan State |
5-10 |
Sr. |
Wilkes-Barre, Pa. |
| 1B |
Joirea Dumas |
North Carolina Central |
5-10 |
Sr. |
Atlanta, Ga. |
| 2B |
Jasmine Melgoza |
Delaware State |
5-2 |
Sr. |
Huntington Beach, Calif. |
| SS |
Soraya Valdez-Frick |
Coppin State |
5-5 |
Jr. |
San Mateo, Calif. |
| 3B |
Camille Navarro |
Howard |
5-6 |
Jr. |
Los Angeles, Calif. |
| OF |
Shelby DesChamps |
Norfolk State |
5-8 |
Gr. |
Virginia Beach, Va. |
| OF |
Jazzmaine Hammond |
Norfolk State |
5-5 |
Sr. |
Detroit, Mich. |
| OF |
Kalita Dennis |
Howard |
5-7 |
Jr. |
Elk Grove, Calif. |
| UTL |
Brissa Alvarado |
Coppin State |
5-8 |
So. |
Rialto, Calif. |
Second Team
| Position |
Name |
School |
Ht. |
Class |
Hometown |
| P |
Skylar Swain |
Norfolk State |
5-5 |
Sr. |
Portsmouth, Va. |
| P |
Nadia Zenteno |
Florida A&M |
5-4 |
So. |
Lake Wales, Fla. |
| C |
Luz Aguilasocho |
Howard |
5-5 |
So. |
Grand Terrace, Calif. |
| 1B |
Sydney Dombrowski |
Coppin State |
5-6 |
Jr. |
Swansboro, N.C. |
| 2B |
Lily Potter |
Norfolk State |
5-4 |
Jr. |
Norfolk, Va. |
| 3B |
Gabby Vaughan |
Norfolk State |
5-6 |
Jr. |
Chesapeake, Va. |
| SS |
Seriah Brokenborough |
Florida A&M |
5-6 |
Jr. |
Eustis, Fla. |
| OF |
Haley Bravo |
Coppin State |
5-7 |
Sr. |
Rialto, Calif. |
| OF |
Tamiera Sanchez |
North Carolina Central |
5-6 |
Sr. |
Sacramento, Calif. |
| OF |
Aliya Ewell |
Morgan State |
5-5 |
Sr. |
Portland, Ore. |
| UTL |
Olivia Daniel |
North Carolina Central |
5-10 |
Sr. |
Creedmoor, N.C. |
Player of the Year: Kalita Dennis, Howard
Pitcher of the Year: Kiara Hurley, North Carolina Central
