FOREST, Va. – Guilford College’s Cynthia Hayes (Seagrove, N.C./Southwestern Randolph) collected the Old Dominion Athletic Conference’s (ODAC) first Softball Player of the Week Award Monday. The announcement marks the first weekly honor for Hayes, a two-time all-conference performer.
Hayes, a 5-6 senior infielder, opened the season batting .750 with six hits in her first eight at-bats in Guilford’s season-opening sweep of Methodist University Sunday. She went four-for-five with two runs batted in (RBI) and a stolen base in the Quakers’ 15-3 opening-game victory. Hayes also scored twice in the win. She was two-for-three with a run scored in the nightcap, a 4-1 Guilford triumph.
The games marked Hayes’ first action since suffering a season-ending knee injury last March. Before the injury, she was leading the country with a school-record .598 batting average with eight doubles, two homers and 24 RBI. Despite the injury and missed games, Hayes earned the school’s initial National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association First Team All-Atlantic Region honor as well as all-state recognition from the North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association.
Coach Dennis Shores’ club (2-0) opens its home schedule Wednesday (2/19) versus Greensboro College at 2:00 p.m. on Haworth Field.