FOREST, Va. – Guilford College’s Cynthia Hayes (Seagrove, N.C./Southwestern Randolph) and Marty Wilcox (South Charleston, W. Va./Charleston Catholic (Florida Southern)) earned National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association (NFCA) All-Atlantic Region honors Saturday. The all-region teams are nominated and selected by NFCA member coaches in each of the eight Division III regions. First team all-region choices are eligible for selection to the NFCA All-America unit, which will be revealed on May 21 at the NCAA Division III Softball Championship banquet in Tyler, Texas.
Cynthia Hayes 2014 by Greensboro Sports
Seagrove, N.C./Southwestern Randolph. Guilford College Softball
Hayes, a senior second baseman, is the first Guilford player to receive two First Team All-Atlantic region accolades. Last month she became the Quakers’ third three-time All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) softball performer in school history. In a school-record 44 contests, Hayes boasts the league’s top figures in batting average (.532), on-base percentage (.599), runs (63), hits (74), and doubles (23). She set school standards for runs, hits, doubles, and times hit by a pitch in a season (14). Through games of May 4, Hayes ranks fifth among NCAA Division III leaders in batting average, sixth in on-base percentage, fourth in runs per game, and seventh in doubles per game. Hayes had a school-record 31-game hitting streak and reached base on 41 straight games this season. She had 25 games with two or more hits, including three four-hit efforts, and won the league’s Hitter of the Week Award Feb. 17.
The all-region honor is the latest in Hayes’ illustrious career. Also an all-state performer, she concluded her career as the ODAC’s and Guilford’s career batting leader (.467). Hayes will graduate with school standards in on-base percentage (.522), runs (157), hits (211), doubles (41), and time hit by pitch (23). She also holds Guilford season marks for batting average (.598, 2013), slugging percentage (.805, 2013), triples (4, 2011), stolen bases (19, 2013) and times hit by pitch (11, 2014). A dean’s list student and resident advisor at Guilford, she will earn degrees in exercise and sports sciences and health science.
Marty Wilcox 2015 by Greensboro Sports
Marty Wilcox (South Charleston, W. Va./Charleston Catholic (Florida Southern))
Wilcox was third-team at-large selection to the All-Atlantic Region squad. The junior earned First Team All-ODAC honors and split time between shortstop, outfield and designated player in her school-record 44 games. Wilcox leads the league in triples (4), total bases (106) and RBI (51), all school records. She smacked a school-record 11 home runs, which ranks 19th nationally through games of May 4. Her slugging percentage stands fourth (.729) in the conference and her 58 hits are fifth-best. Wilcox led the Quakers with 13 multiple-RBI games, including a career-best six RBI contest in an April 18 win over Southern Virginia University. She captured the ODAC’s Hitter of the Week Award April 21 after hitting .800 with three homers and eight RBI in Guilford’s 3-0 week.
After two Guilford seasons, Wilcox has a .394 career batting average and .709 slugging percentage in 70 games. She ranks third in school history with 16 career home runs.
The pair helped coach Dennis Shores’ Quakers to their finest season in school history. Guilford set the school standard with a 29-15 record and took third at the eight-team ODAC Tournament. The Quakers set or tied at least 17 school or individual season records and return everyone save Hayes, the team’s lone senior, in 2015.