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Program Cleans Up All-Conference, NFCA All-Region Awards
Posted: 5/4/2009
More Softball news
Messiah's post-season honorees were (from top left to right): Junior Lindsay Hall, freshman Jessica Rhoads, freshman Jaclyn Merkel, senior Amy Bowie, junior Abby Bergakker and sophomore Rebekkah Funk.
Annville, PA — After winning the program’s sixth conference championship and reaching the 30-win plateau for the fifth time in school history, it was no surprise that the Messiah softball program was showered with both conference and regional awards Monday. Junior Lindsay Hall was named the MAC Commonwealth Player of the Year, freshman Jessica Rhoads the MAC Commonwealth Pitcher of the Year and freshman Jaclyn Merkel the MAC Commonwealth Rookie of the Year, highlighting six first team all-league selections and five Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division III All-East Region selections. Joining Hall, Rhoads and Merkel on the First Team Commonwealth All-Conference were senior Amy Bowie, sophomore Rebekkah Funk and junior Abby Bergakker. Hall, Rhoads and Merkel all earned First Team Louisivlle Slugger/NFCA All-East Region designation, while Bowie was selected to Second Team All-Region and Bergakker to Third Team. Head coach Amy Weaver was also named the MAC Commonwealth Coach of the Year, her fourth award in 12 seasons at the Falcons’ helm. “These are all very nice awards, and we feel as if they truly are team awards,” Weaver said. “Without our team success, these honors aren’t possible. We view these accolades as a testament to the strength of our team this year.” Hall, Rhoads and Merkel were among the key cogs to that success, as Hall added to her second team all-conference honor and third team all-regional selection from last season. The Fairfax, Virginia native batted .441 on the year — third best in the entire conference — while registering a .929 fielding percentage at the hot corner. Merkel, meanwhile, led Messiah with a .460 average (second best in the MAC Commonwealth), finishing second in the league in slugging percentage (.722), third in on-base percentage (.482), first in runs scored (35), first in hits (58), first in runs batted in (39), first in doubles (14) and first in total bases (91). Merkel kept the conference’s rookie of the year honor in house, as Funk captured the honor last season. Moving to centerfield this spring, Funk was brilliant both defensively and offensively, using her speed to cover astounding areas of the grass while stealing a conference-leading 20 bases on the year. Her 29 runs scored were fifth-most in the league, while her .346 batting average was eighth best on the team and 15th-highest in the Commonwealth. Perhaps no one put up quite as dominant statistics as Rhoads on the year, however, as Messiah’s pitching ace recorded a single-season school record 280 strikeouts, while posting an NCAA Division III leading 0.49 ERA. Naturally, Rhoads led every statistical category within the conference books, going 20-1 on the season with eight complete-game no-hitters, three one-hitters and 142 total innings pitched. She allowed just 33 hits on the entire season. Bergakker and Bowie rounded off Messiah’s award winners, each serving as models of extreme consistency. Bergakker finished third on the team with a .397 batting average (fourth-best in the Commonwealth), while posting a slugging percentage of .619 (fifth highest in the league) and an on-base percentage of .481 (fifth highest). Bowie, meanwhile, led the league in getting hit by pitches (seven) and finished fifth in overall batting average (.393), fourth in slugging percentage (.626), second in on-base percentage (.500) and third in home runs (five). It was Bowie’s third appearance on both all-conference and all-region teams after a stellar four-year career. Messiah now prepares for NCAA Regional action, as the team will face-off against an eight-team field at Ramapo College beginning Thursday morning. The Falcons will play CUNYAC Champion College of Staten Island at 10 a.m. Thursday. Complete regional schedule and details are available at the official regional site. A complete list of this year’s all-conference teams are below. For complete details regarding the 2009 Louisville Slugger/NFCA NCAA All-Region teams, visit the official NFCA website. First Team Commonwealth All-Conference Second Team Commonwealth All-Conference
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