The North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association (NCCSIA) announced its selections for the 2015 College Division All-State Softball Teams on Tuesday. Twenty-four student-athletes representing 15 different North Carolina universities and colleges were named to the 2015 NCCSIA College Division All-State Softball Teams.
Wingate University placed three student-athletes on the first team and a fourth on the second team. Catawba College and William Peace University both had two first-team honorees, Lenoir-Rhyne had one player on both the first and second teams and Chowan University, the University of Mount Olive, and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke each had two second-team all-state selections.
Senior shortstop Alexis Burrell, a Daktronics honorable mention All-American and the 2015 South Atlantic Conference (SAC) Player of the Year, led Wingate’s All-State picks. Also a National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Southeast Region honoree, she hit .387 with 15 home runs and 52 RBI. Teammate Taylor Laskey, a junior catcher, captured first-team All-State laurels for the second-straight season after batting .353 with seven doubles, six homers and 40 RBI. One of three first-team All-State rookies, outfielder Morgan Hendrix received Second Team All-SAC recognition with a .350 batting average and league-high 20 stolen bases. The three helped Wingate forge a 27-20 record and the fourth seed in the 2015 SAC Tournament.
Catawba’s Carley Tysinger returned to the first-team All-State squad after appearing on the second-team unit in 2014. The junior fanned 325 batters and posted 10 shutouts, both school records, en route to Daktronics honorable mention All-America status. Tysinger posted a 27-11 record with a 1.60 earned run average (ERA) and won the SAC’s Pitcher of the Year Award. Sophomore teammate Natalie Naturile joined Tysinger on the All-State side after batting .419 with seven home runs and 17 RBI. She was named to both Daktronics and NFCA All-Region teams after helping Catawba to a 31-17 record, the school’s first SAC softball title and an NCAA Division II Tournament berth.
Junior Morgan Farmer and sophomore Lindsey Wiggins led NCAA Division III William Peace to a 23-15-1 record. Farmer hit .377 with 10 doubles, four homers and 29 RBI as the Pacers’ designated player, good enough for First Team All-USA South Athletic Conference recognition. Wiggins, a third baseman, was a second-team NFCA All-Atlantic Region honoree and boasted a .406 batting average with 45 RBI.
Junior Maryann Hoskins of NCAA Division II Lenoir-Rhyne University made the first-team All-State squad for the third-straight season. She was an honorable mention All-SAC selection this spring after topping the Bears with a 19-9 record and 213 strikeouts in 190 innings.
Meredith College senior Meredith White returns to the first-team All-State unit after a two-season absence. A 2013 second-team All-State pick, the Avenging Angels’ utility player concluded perhaps the finest career in school history by batting .495 with nine home runs, 16 doubles and 39 RBI. Her .990 slugging percentage this year led all of NCAA Division III.
Guilford College senior first baseman Rachel Howard moved up to the first-team All-State squad after earning second-team recognition in 2014. She led the NCAA Division III Quakers with a .458 batting average, plus 14 doubles and 38 RBI. Howard was a Third Team NFCA All-Atlantic Region honoree this season.
Belmont Abbey College third baseman Sloane McPeak earned the NCAA Division II Crusaders’ first All-Region commendation since 2005. The 2015 Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year received second-team All-Region nods from both Daktronics and the NFCA after batting .414 with nine home runs, 12 doubles and 48 RBI.
Salem College’s Maggie Fritts rounds out the first-team All-State outfield. The 2015 Great South Athletic Conference (GSAC) Freshman of the Year hit .360 with six homers and 30 RBI. She helped the Spirits to the GSAC Tournament title and an NCAA Division III playoff berth.
The NCCSIA All-State second-team is comprised of Mount Olive’s Madison Johnston and Lauren McGrath, Chowan University’s Tina White and Courtney Diamond, UNC Pembroke’s Haleigh Epperson and Brea Hartley, Wingate’s Stacey Houser, Methodist University’s Ally Griffin, Greensboro College’s Sarah Connolly, Lenoir-Rhyne’s Sydney Landreth, Winston-Salem State University’s Katrina Bartlett and Mars Hill University’s Aleshia Peek.
Nominees were submitted by North Carolina sports information professionals and selected by the NCCSIA members.
Founded in 2002, the NCCSIA is comprised of sports information professionals from NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA and independent institutions from the state of North Carolina. The purpose of the organization is to promote collegiate athletics at all schools. Membership is open to anyone affiliated with a college, university or conference located in North Carolina, and whose area of responsibility lies within sports information.
NCCSSIA selects all-state teams in the University (Division I) and College (Division II, III, NAIA) divisions for men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, softball and baseball.
North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association
2015 College Division All-State Softball Teams
First Team
Pos. Name Class School Hometown P Carley Tysinger & % Jr. Catawba College Lexington, N.C. P Maryann Hoskins & % Jr. Lenoir-Rhyne University Havelock, N.C. C Taylor Laskey & Jr. Wingate University Cherryville, N.C. IF Alexis Burrell Sr. Wingate University Chesapeake, Va. IF Rachel Howard & Sr. Guilford College Efland, N.C. IF Lindsey Wiggins So. William Peace University Durham, N.C. IF Sloane McPeak Fr. Belmont Abbey College Winston-Salem, N.C. OF Natalie Naturile So. Catawba College Thomasville, N.C. OF Maggie Fritts Fr. Salem College Welcome, N.C. OF Morgan Hendrix Fr. Wingate University Mocksville, N.C. UTL Amanda White % $ Sr. Meredith College Wilmington, N.C. DP Morgan Farmer Jr. William Peace University Wilson, N.C.
Second Team
Pos. Name Class School Hometown P Stacey Houser Jr. Wingate University Mooresville, N.C. P Madison Johnston Jr. University of Mount Olive Wilmington, N.C. C Ally Griffin Sr. University of Mount Olive Wilmington, N.C. IF Tina White So. Chowan University Whiteville, N.C. IF Sarah Connolly % Jr. Greensboro College Mount Airy, N.C. IF Sydney Landreth So. Lenoir-Rhyne University Disputanta, Va. IF Katrina Bartlett Sr. Winston-Salem State Univ. Greensboro, N.C. OF Lauren McGrath Sr. University of Mount Olive Rocky Mount, N.C. OF Courtney Diamond Sr. Chowan University Casselberry, Fla. OF Aleshia Peek Sr. Mars Hill University Asheville, N.C. UTL Haleigh Epperson Fr. UNC Pembroke Summerfield, N.C. DP Brea Hartley & % Sr. UNC Pembroke Lexington, N.C.
& – Named to 2014 All-State Team
% – Named to 2013 All-State Team
$ – Named to 2012 All-State Team