May 8, 2008
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Senior Aileen Morales and juniors Whitney Haller and Blair Shimandle were named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District softball teams it was announced today. Haller was a first-team recipient while Morales and Shimandle were each selected to the second team.
Haller earned first-team honors for the second straight season and is now eligible for Academic All-America honors. Voting begins in mid-May, and the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America teams will be announced Tuesday, May 27. Morales and Shimandle were each selected to the second-team. This is Morales’ third-straight second-team nod, while Shimandle has made it for the first time.
Haller has been white hot at the plate heading into the ACC Tournament as she has hit in 10 straight games to conclude the regular season. The Marietta, Ga., native is hitting .593 over the last 10 games with four home runs and 15 RBI. She recently broke the all-time Georgia Tech career home run record and is now tied for tops in ACC history.
For the season, Haller is hitting .259 with 20 runs scored, 42 hits, eight doubles, 10 home runs, 38 RBI, a .494 slugging percentage and a .348 on-base percentage. She is first on the team and fifth in the ACC in RBI, while her home runs tally is good for a second-place tie on the team and third-place tie in the league. Haller has not committed an error all season
Morales will leave Georgia Tech with her name all over the school and ACC record books. This season, the Columbus, Ga., native leads the team with a .347 batting average (eighth in the ACC), .555 slugging percentage (seventh), .427 on-base percentage (eighth), 45 runs scored (third), 60 hits (tied for fourth), eight doubles, five triples (first), 21 walks (tied for ninth) and 44 stolen bases (first). She is also among the team leaders with 28 RBI and six home runs.
Morales has already broken the all-time Georgia Tech stolen base record this season and needs one more to break her own single-season record (44 in 2005). Morales is second all-time in ACC history and first at Tech with 213 runs scored and needs just 11 more for the league record. She is fourth in the ACC annals in stolen bases and had a stretch of 31 consecutive thefts this year at one point. Morales has made dazzling plays from her shortstop position and not committed an error since April 3, a span of 19 games. She has 16 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games this season.
Shiamandle is second on the team with a .326 batting average. She is tied for second in the ACC and 20th nationally with 36 stolen bases and also ranks among the ACC leaders with 57 hits (tied for sixth) and three triples (tied for fifth). The La Grange, Ga., native also has 28 runs scored, five doubles, a home run, 25 RBI, a .406 slugging percentage and a .362 on-base percentage.,
Defensively, Shimandle has not made an error all season in right field and has made some spectacular diving catches. She has compiled 15 multi-hit and six multi-RBI games while acting as one of Tech’s most consistent batters this season.
