April 16, 2008
Contact: Mike Christie, Assistant Commissioner

USA South Softball Awards Announced

(FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.) - The USA South Athletic Conference has announced its All-Conference awards for softball.  A total of 47 student-athletes have been named to the teams for softball. Methodist University's Rebekah Kelly has been named the Player of the Year while her teammate, Hannah Stutts, has earned Rookie Pitcher of the Year honors. Shenandoah University representatives earned three individual honors as Katie Haskins has been named the Pitcher of the Year, Cat Pruiett has been named Rookie of the Year and their coach, Marlena Kotynski, was named Coach of the Year. Also, for the first time, the USA South recognized an All-Sportsmanship Team, consisting of one member from each competing school. All honors are determined by votes from the softball coach at each institution.

Kelly, a senior outfielder from Fayetteville, North Carolina, earns her second consecutive player of the year honor. She led the USA South with 55 hits and ten triples while recording a Monarch-best 39 runs scored and 82 total bases. Kelly also contributed a .444 batting average, 25 RBI and a .661 slugging percentage. In Conference games alone, Kelly led the league with a .527 batting average, 29 hits, 48 total bases and six triples. This is Kelly's fourth appearance on the All-Conference Team as she has now earned first-team honors the past three seasons to go along with her honorable-mention accolades in 2005. Finally, Kelly earned USA South Player of the Week honors once this spring.

A junior from Montville, New Jersey, Haskins led the Hornets on the mound with a 16-3 record and a 2.49 ERA in 20 appearances. In 118.0 innings pitched, Haskins had four complete-game shutouts with 117 strikeouts. Haskins led the USA South in wins and was fourth in strikeouts. For her efforts this season, Haskins earned first team honors as a pitcher and second team honors as an outfielder where she tallied a .408 batting average with a team-best 51 runs scored. This is Haskins' second career all-conference honor as a pitcher and second as a position player. Finally, Haskins earned USA South Pitcher of the Week honors twice this spring.

Pruiett, a freshman outfielder from Clifton, Virginia, helped the Hornets by producing a team-best .435 batting average which was good for fourth in the USA South. Pruiett also contributed 47 hits, 40 runs scored, 15 RBI and a .496 on-base percentage this spring. She was among the league's top-five in batting average, hits and runs scored. Pruiett earned First Team All-Conference honors in the outfield and was named USA South Rookie of the Week once this spring.

A freshman from Statesville, North Carolina, Stutts appeared in 17 games, starting six of them. She compiled an 8-0 record with 36 strikeouts and a USA South-best 1.26 ERA. Stutts tossed 61.0 innings with three complete-games and two saves. This spring, Stutts was named USA South Rookie Pitcher of the Week twice.

Kotynski is currently in her fourth season at the helm of Shenandoah and becomes the first Hornet softball coach to be named the league's Coach of the Year. Kotynski has led Shenandoah to a 28-10 overall record, a 15-3 USA South mark and the program's first Conference regular season softball title. Until this season, the best finish in the league standings for the Hornets was a six-place result last spring.

Player of the Year
Rebekah Kelly - Methodist

Pitcher of the Year
Katie Haskins - Shenandoah

Rookie of the Year
Cat Pruiett - Shenandoah

Rookie Pitcher of the Year
Hannah Stutts - Methodist

Coach of the Year
Marlena Kotynski - Shenandoah

The 2008 USA South Softball All-Conference Teams follow:

First Team 1B - Lauren Wall - Shenandoah 2B - Katie Moyers - Chris. Newport 3B - Kayla Talbert - Methodist SS - Ashlee Bass - N.C. Wesleyan C - Cat Beuerle - Shenandoah DP - Libby Fulford - N.C. Wesleyan Util - Ashley Stansbury - Peace OF - Rebekah Kelly - Methodist         Jenee Johnson - Greensboro        Cat Pruiett - Shenandoah P - Katie Haskins - Shenandoah       Lesley Hewitt - Methodist	Second Team 1B - Lauren Rizzo - Ferrum 2B - Kendra Leghart - Greensboro 3B - Ashley Plaugher - Shenandoah SS - Jolisa Jones - Shenandoah C - Margit Severin - Chris. Newport DP - Kristen Nickloy - Chris. Newport Util - Arielle Stout - Meredith OF - Katie Haskins - Shenandoah        Whitney Moshier - N.C. Wesleyan        Britney Smith - Greensboro P - Libby Fulford - N.C. Wesleyan      Lindsay Kelly - Chris. Newport
Honorable Mention 1B - Becki Roebock - Meredith 2B - Megan Hutson - Methodist 3B - Jessie Atkinson - Chris. Newport SS - Mary Kennedy - Chris. Newport C - Amy Green - Averett      Nina Chiaruttini - Greensboro DP - Billye Rivas, Methodist Util - Denise Pope - N.C. Wesleyan OF - Tabatha Stephenson - Methodist         Ryeleigh Loftin - Greensboro         Megan Morris - Chris. Newport P - Erica Brown - Greensboro      Janet Fairchild - Chris. Newport	All-Sportsmanship Team Heather Trainum - Averett Hannah Brown - Chris. Newport Lauren Thurman - Ferrum Meagan Knight - Greensboro Karen Potter - Mary Baldwin Toni Tricarico - Meredith Caline Daun - Methodist Katie Dunavant - N.C. Wesleyan Morgan Weathington - Peace Shaquanda Johnson - Shenandoah