May 14, 2010
BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Georgia Tech Softball team placed a league-high six student-athletes on the All-Atlantic Coast Conference teams announced today in voting conducted by the coaches. Redshirt senior Jen Yee was named Player of the Year while Hope Rush picked up Freshman of the Year accolades. For the second straight season, Sharon Perkins was tabbed the league’s Coach of the Year.
Joining Yee and Rush on the all-conference first team are junior Kristine Priebe and sophomore Kelsi Weseman. Junior Christy Jones and sophomore Kate Kuzma both earned second team All-ACC honors. The Yellow Jackets had the most all-conference honorees for the second straight season as Florida State came in second with four All-ACC honorees this year. Yee is just the second player in program history to be named ACC Player of the Year. Laura Williams is the other one as she won the honor in 1997. Rush is Tech’s seventh Freshman of the Year and second straight recipient as Weseman won it last year.
2010 ACC Softball Postseason Awards
Player of the Year: Jen Yee, Sr., 2B, Georgia Tech
Pitcher of the Year: Danielle Spaulding, Sr., North Carolina
Freshman of the Year: Hope Rush, P/DP, Georgia Tech
Coach of the Year: Sharon Perkins, Georgia Tech
First Team
Name, Yr., Pos., School
Renee Ramos, Sr., 2B, Boston College
Carly Wynn, Sr., OF, Florida State
Jen Yee, Sr., 2B, Georgia Tech
Hope Rush, Fr., P/DP, Georgia Tech
Kelsi Weseman, So., SS, Georgia Tech
Kristine Priebe, Jr., 1B, Georgia Tech
Alex Schultz, Sr., 3B, Maryland
Danielle Spaulding, Sr., P/1B, North Carolina
Christine Knauer, Sr., SS, North Carolina
Melanie Mitchell, Fr., P, Virginia
Second Team
Name, Yr., Pos., School Sarah Hamilton, Jr., P, Florida State
Ashley Stager, Jr., SS, Florida State
Terese Gober, Sr., P, Florida State
Christy Jones, Jr., CF, Georgia Tech
Kate Kuzma, So., C/LF, Georgia Tech
Lindsay Campana, Sr., P, NC State
Landon Warren, So., OF, NC State
Ally Blake, So., C, North Carolina
Sarah Tacke, Sr., OF, Virginia
Nicole Koren, Sr., DP, Virginia
Misty Hall, Sr., SS, Virginia Tech
Richelle McGarva, Jr., DP, Virginia Tech
Perkins picks up her second straight ACC Coach of the Year award after leading the No. 7/7 Yellow Jackets to a 46-9 overall record and the third ACC regular season title in school history. It’s the fifth time a Tech skipper has been named Coach of the Year and Perkins becomes the first multiple-time recipient.
Yee, who was named one of 10 finalists yesterday for the USA Softball Player of the Year Award, earns all-conference honors at second base for the second straight season. She has reached base safely at least once in all 55 games this season and heads into postseason play leading the nation in batting average (.583), slugging percentage (1.303), on-base percentage (.742), runs scored (86), home runs (26) and walks (78). She has struck out just four times all season and is 21-for-22 in stolen base attempts, good for fourth in the ACC. Her 77 hits and 58 RBI lead the league while her 15 doubles rank third. She is a two-time Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week and five-time ACC Player of the Week.
The North Delta, British Columbia native has had 22 multi-hit and 16 multi-RBI games in the regular season and began the year hitting safely in 19 straight games. Yee has been intentionally walked 29 times this year which is tied with former Arizona State All-American Kaitlin Cochran for the most in NCAA history.
Yee has already broken seven school records this season and is on pace to shatter several others. She surpassed Tara Knudsen’s career walks (119) record as well as Amy Hosier’s single-season walks mark (52). In addition, Yee took down current assistant coach Aileen Morales’ single-season runs record (73). Yee did it, however, in 24 less games than Morales. Yee also topped Morales’ career runs scored record (216), Knudsen’s career doubles record (45) and Whitney Haller’s single-season home runs (24) and total bases mark (171).
Rush, who was a semi-finalist for the USA Softball Player of the Year Award, has done it both offensively and defensively for the Yellow Jackets. In the circle, she is 26-6 with a 1.66 ERA. Her wins are tied for first in the ACC, while the ERA is tied for fifth lowest. Rush has made 28 starts and has 25 complete games and seven shutouts. She also has a save and a .213 opponent’s batting average, which is good for ninth in the league. Of Rush’s seven shutouts, three have come over ranked teams in No. 3 Florida, No. 16 North Carolina and No. 17 Texas A&M. The Stockbridge, Ga., native has two no-hitters to her credit and is 8-3 with a 2.23 ERA in 11 starts against top 25 teams. She is a two-time ACC Pitcher of the Week. In league play, Rush was a perfect 12-0 with a 1.47 ERA and .183 opponent’s batting average.
At the plate, Rush is batting .288 with a .644 slugging percentage and a .398 on-base percentage. She is second in the ACC and eighth in the nation with 18 home runs, while her 54 RBI are third and 39th, respectively. Rush is eighth in the league in slugging percentage, fourth in total bases (105) and tied for fourth in walks (30). Rush 14 multi-hit and 15 multi-RBI games as well as a team-high 11 game-winning RBI. Her 18 round-trippers are fifth on the all-time Georgia Tech single-season charts.
Priebe made an immediate impact upon transferring from the University of Florida and earns all-conference honors at first base. After driving in just nine runs in her first 25 games as a Yellow Jacket, the Moorpark, Calif., native has 47 RBI in her last 30 games and ranks second on the team and 34th in the nation with 56. Priebe batted .331 (ninth in the ACC) for the regular season with a .696 slugging percentage (third), .490 on-base percentage (fourth), 33 runs scored (tied for eighth), 49 hits (tied for 10th), nine doubles (tied for 10th), 15 home runs (third), 103 total bases (fifth), 29 walks (sixth) and 18 hit by pitches (second). She also ranks 19th in the nation in home runs, 71st in slugging percentage, 75th in on-base percentage and 16th in hit by pitches. Priebe had 10 multi-hit and 14 multi-RBI games this season while also delivering five-game winning RBI. She hit three grand slams and two f her game-winning RBI were walk-off home runs.
Weseman, the 2009 ACC Freshman of the Year, earns her second all-conference nod at shortstop. She is batting .341 (seventh in the ACC) with a .652 slugging percentage (seventh), .460 on-base percentage (sixth), 55 runs scored (second), 56 hits (fifth), 49 RBI (fourth), 16 doubles (second), 11 home runs (tied for sixth), 107 total bases (third) and 13 hit by pitches (fourth). The Hutto, Texas native is 23rd in the nation in runs scored and registered 18 multi-hit and 15 multi-RBI games during the season, while finishing second on the team with seven game-winning RBI.
Jones also earns her first-ever all-conference citation after batting .278 in the regular season while starting 53 games in center field. She made just three errors, but had some highlight-reel catches in the outfield. Jones, a native of Wichita, Kansas, scored 29 runs and was 10-for-11 in stolen base attempts. She hit .327 in ACC play.
Kuzma earns her first-ever all-conference nod after starting 50 games either behind the plate or in left field. Batting in the No. 2 spot in the line-up, Kuzma ranks tied for first in the ACC with 17 sacrifices and moved runners along at a 59 percent clip. She committed just four errors in the regular season for a .983 fielding percentage and also threw out 26 percent of would-be base stealers. The Shaprsburg, Ga., native is tied for eighth in the league with 33 runs scored while adding eight home runs and 32 RBI.
The No. 7/7 Yellow Jackets are in Blacksburg, Va., for the 2010 ACC Tournament, May 14-16, at Tech Softball Park. Georgia Tech is the No. 1 seed and will face eighth-seeded Boston College in the first round today at 5 p.m. The single elimination tournament continues with semifinals at 1 and 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 15, before the championship game on Sunday May 16 at 1 p.m. Live video, audio and stats for all of the games will be available at www.RamblinWreck.com, while the title game will be televised live on the Regional Sports Networks, including SportSouth in the state of Georgia.
