June 7, 2011
By Jon Cooper
Sting Daily
Good enough isn’t in Kelsi Weseman’s vocabulary.
If it were, she would have reached that point by now. Instead, she’s blown past it and keeps on going, pushing her limits.
The junior shortstop from Hutto, Texas, has been First Team All-ACC every year she’s been on the Flats, in 2009 was ACC Freshman of the Year and, in 2011, was ACC Player of the Year. She also was named a 2011 Second Team All-American.
“It was a great honor to be named an All-American,” said Weseman, the eighth player in school history to earn All-America status. “When I think of an All-American I think of the best players in the country. To be on that list is definitely a great honor.
“Certainly you read the list of people at Tech, Jen Yee, Caitlin Lever, Aileen Morales, all of them were great softball players,” she added. “To be considered on the same list as those people definitely makes me very proud. It’s a great honor.”
It’s also a well-deserved one. In 2011, Weseman led the ACC in batting average (.424), slugging percentage (.968), on-base percentage (.538), runs scored (51), runs batted in (65), home runs (21), doubles (17), total bases (153), and, on defense, assists (123).
Those numbers don’t even touch on her ability to come through in the clutch. Try on some of these numbers: 17 two-out RBIs (tied for second with Kristine Priebe behind only Hope Rush’s 20), a .430 average with runners on base, a .444 average with the bases loaded, a .450 average with runners in scoring position, a .667 mark with a runner on third and less than two out, a .357 average with runners in scoring position and two outs, a . 584 mark in advancing runners and a .600 average leading off an inning.
“Kelsi was a clutch hitter for us all season,” said head coach Sharon Perkins. “She stepped up and was a phenomenal offensive leader for us. I am excited to see her senior year.”
While the obvious joke can be made is that Weseman will find extra incentive for next year in the slight of only being named to the All-America Second Team, it’s no joke that she’s eager to improve for her senior year.
“I’m always looking for some area to improve because, even if I had a successful year and I hit .400 (she hit .333), you still feel there is still room to improve,” she said. “You always have parts of your game that could be better. You should always be improving. I just try to do that.”
Actually, her improvement isn’t with an eye on individual glory but on team goals, the most important of which is to go deeper into the NCAA Tournament.
“The individual awards are great but I would much rather win another ACC Championship and make it Super Eight and longer and hopefully to the World Series,” she said. “So that’s what I’m trying to focus on this summer just getting better so that as a team we can reach that goal.”
Weseman, who took a week off to recharge, has already started working out for next year and also is taking summer classes to get on track to graduate next spring with a degree in Industrial Engineering.
Oh, in addition to all of her on-field accolades, she’s a two-time All-ACC Academic All-American (The 2011 Team has not yet been named).
Kelsi believes the pieces are in place for the Yellow Jackets to make that longer run in 2012, with the disappointment of the 2011 ACC Tournament and the experience of going through the adversity in the NCAAs serving as an important building block
“I think this year has definitely made us stronger as a team,” she said. “We know that anybody can step up and fill almost any role. We had infielders playing outfield so anybody can step up and play wherever we need them to or can hit anywhere in the lineup. If anybody were to go down, we know that anybody on the team could step up in her spot. I think all the freshmen got a lot of experience so next year they’re just going to be even better.”
“I feel good about next season,” she added. “We had a bunch of people play positions that they weren’t used to. They did well doing well certainly. So that’s awesome to think about for next season.”
–RamblinWreck.com–
