SPRINGFIELD, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Softball Team has seen two of its players named to the 2017 VaSID All-State College Division Softball Team, VaSID officials announced Thursday. This marks the second year in a row that an E&H player has been named All-State.
Junior first baseman Caley Hodge (Elizabethton, Tenn.) and junior pitcher Emily Kendrick (Honaker, Va.) were both named to the All-State Second Team after earning All-ODAC First-Team and NFCA All-Atlantic Region Second-Team accolades. Hodge earns the award for the second-straight year, after being recognized as a designated player in 2016.
Hodge batted a team-best .430 with a school-record .514 on-base percentage this year. She drew a record-tying 22 walks on the year with 64 hits and 45 RBI which are second on the single-season record books. The three-time all-league player also posted a .705 slugging percentage, adding 17 doubles and eight home runs.
Kendrick went 20-9 on the year with five saves and a 1.78 earned run average. Her 20 wins, eight shutouts and 197 innings pitched are new Emory & Henry single-season records while her five saves tie the program-best mark. The All-ODAC First-Teamer also added 146 strikeouts and 20 complete games on the year.
Emory & Henry finished the year with a 35-15 record, going 13-7 in conference play. The Wasps reached were runners-up in the 2017 ODAC Tournament and received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, their first appearance on the national stage since 2003.
The 2017 NCAA Division III Virginia Wesleyan College Marlins swept the major awards for a second year in a row. National Player and Rookie of the Year Hanna Hull was selected as State Pitcher and Rookie of the Year while Cassetty Howerin earned her second-straight State Player of the Year honors. Hull was tabbed as the State Rookie of the Year while Marlin mentor Brandon Elliott was named State Coach of the Year.
The VaSID All-State teams are selected by sports information directors of member institutions of the Virginia Sports Information Directors across the Commonwealth of Virginia. VaSID, founded in 1983, selects teams in two divisions (University and College) for 12 sports and three single-division teams in addition to Academic All-State teams across all sports.
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2017 VaSID All-State College Division Softball Teams
VaSID State Player of the Year - Cassetty Howerin
VaSID State Pitcher of the Year - Hanna Hull
VaSID State Rookie of the Year - Hanna Hull
VaSID State Coach of the Year - Brandon Elliott
First Team
P - Hanna Hull (Virginia Wesleyan)
P - Taylor Brandts (UVA-Wise)
P - Courtney Wright (Virginia Wesleyan)
C - Jessica Lindsay (Virginia Wesleyan)
1B - Cassetty Howerin (Virginia Wesleyan)
2B - Sam Bird (Mary Baldwin)
3B - Mariah Foltz (Eastern Mennonite)
SS - Jessica Long (Averett)
OF - Leah Andrews (Christopher Newport)
OF - Samantha Hall (Averett)
OF - Rachael Shiflett (Christopher Newport)
DP - Kaitlyn Aherron (Averett)
Second Team
P - Candace Whittemore (Randolph-Macon)
P - Aubrey Bates (Christopher Newport)
P - Emily Kendrick (Emory & Henry)
C - Calah Savage (Christopher Newport)
1B - Caley Hodge (Emory & Henry)
2B - Grace Wild (Christopher Newport)
3B - Kaylah Duplain (Virginia Wesleyan)
SS - Rachael Payne (Christopher Newport)
OF - Skylar Dickens (Lynchburg)
OF - Savannah Jones (Eastern Mennonite)
OF - Zoe Millard (UVA-Wise)
DP - Mikalia Guard (Bridgewater)