SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The College of Charleston's Alexa Datko has been named the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year and earned first-team all-conference honors. The league also announced the Coach of the Year, Player of the Year and all-conference teams on Monday according to voting conducted by the league's coaches.
The Cougars placed a team-high three players on the league's all-freshman team in Carly Corthell, Lizzy Vaughn and Kelsey Hodgson. Corthell was named second team all-conference as well.
Datko (San Diego, Calif.) was a two-time SoCon Pitcher of the Week as well as the Pitcher of the Month in March. She tallied a league-high 16 wins on the season including seven wins in conference play. The senior right hander maintained an impressive 1.95 ERA on the season and posted a 1.83 ERA against SoCon foes. She tossed 157.2 innings on the season and struck out 134, two more than the 132 hits she allowed on the year in holding her opponents to a .224 batting average. She dealt seven complete game shutouts as well.
Corthell (Reno, Nev.) earned a spot on the second team after her freshman campaign with the Cougars. She hit .333 on the year and led the team in hits and runs with 58 and 33, respectively. She registered five doubles and two triples and a .384 on-base percentage. She was the league's second-most dangerous runner with 23 stolen bases on the year. Between February and March, Corthell recorded at least one hit in 25 out of 26 games.
Joining Corthell on the all-freshman team were infielders Vaughn (Placerville, Calif.) and Hodgson (Woodstock, Ga.) Vaughn batted .269 on the year with 23 RBIs. She slugged at .423 with eight doubles, a league-high five triples and two home runs. Vaughn also dazzled defensively and made several defensive gems to keep CofC in close games. Vaughn, just as Corthell did, started in all 52 games for the Cougars in her freshman season. Vaughn also led the team in executing sacrifice bunts, a cornerstone of CofC softball.
Hodgson was CofC's biggest extra-base-hit threat with her .583 slugging percentage and 11 doubles, two triples and a team-high seven home runs. She also carried a .324 batting average through the season as well as a .394 on-base percentage. Hodgson led the team in total bases as well.
Southern Conference regular season champion Chattanooga earned five first team all-conference team selections, two second team all-conference selections, an all-freshman team honoree and two individual awards.
The Lady Mocs' head coach Frank Reed was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year for the fourth straight season and the fifth time in his career.
Chattanooga junior designated player Michelle Fuzzard was named the league's Player of the Year and was selected to the all-conference first team. Fuzzard led the league in batting average, hitting .418 overall and .423 in league play.
Georgia Southern pitcher Allie Miles was tabbed the league's Freshman of the Year and was named second team all-conference. Miles led the league in strikeouts with 153 in 130.2 innings.
The 2011 Southern Conference Softball Championship begins Wednesday at Eagle Field at the Softball Complex in Statesboro, Ga. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
