Nine Gators Earn League Post-Season Awards
Wednesday, May 7, 2008 | Softball
A banquet was held Wednesday night to kick off the 2008 Southeastern Conference Softball Tournament and honor the divisional and league overall champions and post-season award winners. In addition to receiving the trophies for the SEC East Division title and the overall regular season title, eight Gator players and Head Coach Tim Walton earned individual honors.
Junior hurler Stacey Nelson (Los Alamitos, Calif.), who finished the regular season with a 21-1 record in league play, was honored as the SEC Pitcher of the Year. This marks the first time a Gator has been named the league's pitcher of the year. Pitcher Chelsey Sakizzie was named Player of the Year in 1998 prior to the league naming both a pitcher and a player of the year. Former catcher Kristen Butler was also honored as the league's top player on 2006.
Walton, who led the Gators to a conference record 27-1 season to capture the league title was honored as the SEC Coach of the Year. Only one other time in league history has a team finished with only one loss in SEC play as South Carolina finished the 1997 season 25-1.
Nelson and fellow juniors Ali Gardiner (Waccabuc, N.Y.) and Kim Waleszonia (Fontana, Calif.) were named to the All-SEC first team. The two are two of Florida's top three hitters. Gardiner, a first baseman, leads the Gators with a .477 average, .852 slugging percentage and a .548 on base percentage in conference games. She also leads the team in hits (42) and RBI (31), walks (18) and doubles (11) in conference play. She got a hit in all but three of 28 conference games and reached base in all but one. As the team's table setter in the leadoff spot and playing center field, Waleszonia is third on the team with a .347 in conference play and is second on the team with 33 hits. She hit in all but five of the conference games and five or her eight doubles on the season and her only home run came in conference action.
Freshman Aja Paculba (Wildomar, Calif.) was the only Gator named to the All-SEC second team. The second baseman is the Gators' leading run scorer with 28 runs scored in conference action. She is second on the team with 15 walks and holds a .495 on base percentage. She is Florida's second leading hitter with a .386 batting average.
Paculba and fellow freshmen Stephanie Brombacher (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), Megan Bush (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) and Tiffany DeFelice (Coral Springs, Fla.) were each named to the first-team All-Freshman team. Brombacher finished the season with a perfect 6-0 record with one save in conference action. She earned a 1.94 ERA. Bush, the Florida short stop, hit a team-leading nine home runs in conference play and tallied 21 RBI, the second-most on the team. DeFelice, who primarily plays in the designated player spot, was second on the team with 15 walks, while only striking out four times in league games.
Four Gators were named as some of the top defensive players in the conference. Nelson (pitcher), Gardiner (first base), Paculba (second base) and Waleszonia (center field) were named to the All-Defensive team in the inaugural year for the award.
Senior Mary Ratliff (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) was named to the SEC Softball Community Service team for her work on the Florida campus and in the Gainesville community. Ratliff is the vice president of Florida's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and serves as a voting member of the University Athletic Association's Intercollegiate Athletic Committee. She has participated in many community service activities through Florida's Goodwill Gators program and as a member of the softball team. She has delivered shoes to local elementary students with Gator Tracks, helped to build a house through Habitat for Humanity's Women Build program and served dinner at the Ronald McDonald House. She was a pen pal with a fourth grade student through Gator Pen Pals, mentored a student at P.K. Younge Middle school and visited teen-aged patients at Shands Hospital with the Streetlight Program.
The Gators, who earned the first No. 1 ranking in program history this week, begin SEC Tournament play at 2:30 p.m. ET versus eighth-seeded Ole Miss. All of Florida's games in the SEC Tournament will be broadcast live on WRUF AM 850 in Gainesville and www.WRUF.com. Live stats and live video for all games are available at www.LSUSports.net.
The full list of people selected to All-SEC teams follows as well as capsules on the league performances of each of Florida's players selected to All-SEC teams.
Player of the Year: Tonya Callahan, UT
Pitcher of the Year: Stacey Nelson, UF
Coach of the Year: Tim Walton, UF
Freshman of the Year: Kelsi Dunne, UA
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Jordan Praytor, UA
All-SEC First Team
P Stacey Nelson, UF
P, Kelsi Dunne, UA
IF, Tonya Callahan, UT
IF, Ali Gardiner, UF
IF, Courtney Bures, MSU
IF, Kelley Montalvo, UA
OF, Brittany Rogers, UA
OF, Rachel Mitchell, LSU
OF, Kim Waleszonia, UF
OF, Megan Wiggins, UG
C, Chelsea Bramlett, MSU
DP/U, Charlotte Morgan, UA
All-SEC Second Team
P, Cody Trahan, LSU
P, Anna Thompson, AU
IF, Aja Paculba, UF
IF, Kenora Posey, UT
IF, Sojourner Moody, UG
IF, Molly Johnson, UK
OF, Dani Woods, UA
OF, Jordan Praytor, UA
OF, Quinlan Duhon, LSU
OF, Hayle Guess, MSU
C, Ashley Holcombe, UA
DP/U, Lauren Grill, UM
Freshman All-SEC Team
P, Kelsi Dunne, UA
P, Stephanie Brombacher, UF
IF, Aja Paculba, UF
IF, Jen Lapicki, UT
IF, Megan Bush, UF
IF, Ali Bainbridge, MSU
OF, Megan Wiggins, UG
OF, Meagan Aull, UK
OF, Taylor Schlopy, UG
OF, Laura Mendes, SC
C, Megan Yocke, UK
DP/U, Tiffany DeFelice, UF
All-Defensive Team
P, Stacey Nelson, UF
C, Ashley Holcombe, UA
1B, Ali Gardiner, UF
2B, Chrissy Schoonmaker, SC; Aja Paculba, UF*
SS, Kenora Posey, UT
3B, Kelley Montalvo, UA
OF, Kim Waleszonia, UF
OF, Myesha Finney, AU
OF, Brittany Rogers, UA
*No ties are broken
Stephanie Brombacher – All-Freshman team - Earned a perfect 6-0 record with a 1.94 ERA in conference games … Earned wins over Ole Miss, Arkansas, LSU, Georgia, Kentucky and Auburn … Earned a save in the series finale with Arkansas … Shut out LSU … Struck out 45 batters, while only walking 20 … Gave up only two home runs in 11 appearances … Did not give up an extra base hit in complete game wins over LSU and Auburn … Struck out eight batters in win over Auburn, a career-high in league play.
Megan Bush – All-Freshman team - Hit .260 in conference games with a team-leading nine home runs … Hit in five straight conference games against Mississippi State and LSU … Seven multiple hit games in conference play … Recorded three or more RBI in conference games against Mississippi State, Georgia and Kentucky … Hit two home runs in a 2-for-4 performance with four RBI in the second game of the series with Georgia … Hit .500 (5-for-10) with four RBI, two doubles, a home run and a run scored in the series with Mississippi State … Hit 5-for-9 with three runs scored, five RBI, a double and two home runs in the series with Kentucky … Hit two home runs and recorded four RBI in the series at Tennessee … Recorded the game-winning hit and game-winning run in the series with Tennessee.
Tiffany DeFelice – All-Freshman team – Second on the team with 15 walks in conference play … Walked 15 times, but struck out only four times in 25 conference games … Earned the game winning run in the final game of the series with Auburn … Had multiple hit games against Ole Miss, Arkansas and Kentucky … Went 1-for-3 with a walk, a home run, two runs scored and an RBI in the win over Alabama … Hit a perfect 2-for-2 with a double, a walk and two RBI in final game of the Kentucky series … Went 1-for-1 with two RBI and a sacrifice fly in the final game of the series with Auburn.
Ali Gardiner – First Team All-SEC, All-Defensive team first baseman - Florida's leading hitter with a .477 average, .852 slugging percentage and a .548 on base percentage in conference games … Also leads the team in hits (42) and RBI (31), walks (18) and doubles (11) in conference play … Has only been held hitless in three games in conference action and has only been kept off base in one conference game … Hit in 10 straight conference games against Ole Miss, Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina and LSU, in eight straight against LSU, Mississippi State, Georgia and Kentucky and currently in seven straight against Kentucky, Auburn and Tennessee … Has had multiple hits in 17 conference games, while recording multiple RBI in 11 games … 19 of her 26 extra base hits have come in conference action including six of seven home runs, both triples and 11 of 17 doubles … Recorded game-winning RBI over South Carolina, LSU (two games), Mississippi State (two games), Georgia (two games), Kentucky and Tennessee, while scoring game winning runs against South Carolina, Mississippi State and Georgia … Was error free at first base in conference games until the Auburn series … Went 2-for-7 with three walks, a double, a run scored and a RBI against Ole Miss … Hit 3-for-6 with a walk in the Alabama series … 4-for-11 with a home run, a double a run scored and two RBI in the Arkansas series … Hit 5-for-7 with a home run, a run scored and a RBI against South Carolina … Home run in the second-game was a walk-off for the win … Went 4-for-7 with a double, a home run, three walks, four runs scored and three RBI in three games against LSU, including a perfect 2-for02 performance in the final game … 5-for-10 with a double, a home run, a walk, four runs scored and four RBI at Mississippi State … 6-for-12 with two doubles, a home run, two runs scored and eight RBI at Georgia, including four RBI in the final game of the series … Hit 3-for-9 with two home runs, two walks, two runs scored and five RBI against Kentucky, including four RBI in the final game of the series … Went 3-for-8 with two walks, a home run, four runs scored and three RBI against Auburn … Finished the weekend with Tennessee 7-for-11 with a run scored, four RBI and four doubles … Owns a .986 fielding percentage in conference games, having committed only three errors in 28 games at first base … Leads the team with 202 putouts … Shares the team lead in double plays turned with nine … Recorded 10 or more putouts in four games, including a season-high 12 in the first game at Mississippi State … Recorded two assists in games against Ole Miss, LSU and Mississippi State.
Stacey Nelson – SEC Pitcher of the Year, First-team All-SEC, All-Defensive team pitcher - Owns a 21-1 record in conference games, with her only loss being by one run … Held conference opponents to a .178 batting average … Has given up only 22 runs in conference play, only 15 earned … Only 15 of the 84 hits she has given up have been for extra bases, only one a home run and none a triple … Threw 45.2 consecutive shutout innings in conference games over LSU, Mississippi State and Georgia … Threw 66.2 consecutive conference innings without giving up an earned runs against Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina, LSU, Mississippi State, and Georgia … Three of her four saves on the season have been in conference play … Pitched complete game shut outs over Arkansas, South Carolina, LSU, Mississippi State (two games), Georgia and Kentucky (two games) … Pitched one hitters in the first and third games of the Kentucky series … Pitched complete games without a walk against Arkansas, South Carolina and Kentucky … Struck out a career-high 11 batters against South Carolina … Earned the win in all three games of the Mississippi State series … Earned two wins and a save in the series with Georgia and Kentucky … Earned all three wins in the series with Tennessee, pitching 21 of 25 innings on the weekend … Has a .944 fielding percentage with only three errors in the circle in conference games … Third on the Gator squad in assists in conference games with 46 … Recorded a conference season-high five assists against both Ole Miss and Mississippi State and season-high two putouts against Georgia.
Aja Paculba – Second Team All-SEC, All-Freshman Team, All-Defensive team second baseman - Leads the team in runs scored with 28 in conference games, averaging a run a game … Second on the team in walks with 15 … Holds a .495 on base percentage in conference play … Nine of 14 extra base hits have come in conference play, including seven of 11 doubles, a triple and a home run … Has multiple hits in seven games, including three games with three hits … Has scored two or more runs in 10 games … Recorded game-winning RBI against Arkansas (two games) and Kentucky … Scored game-winning runs against Ole Miss, Arkansas, LSU (two games), Georgia and Tennessee (two games) … Has gotten a hit in all but seven SEC games and reached base in all but three … Hit in seven straight conference games against Mississippi State, Georgia and Kentucky … Finished the regular season hitting in six straight games against Auburn and Tennessee … Scored a run in 11 straight conference games against LSU, Mississippi State, Georgia, Kentucky and Auburn … Went 2-for-3 with a sacrifice and a RBI double in the win over Alabama … Hit 5-for-11 with a walk, a double, two runs scored and two RBI in the series with Arkansas … Went 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored and a RBI in the second game of the Mississippi State series … Finished the Georgia series 5-for-8 with four walks, six runs scored and a RBI … Hit only the second home run of her career in a 3-for-4 performance in the second game of the Kentucky series … Drew a career-high three walks in the final game of the Kentucky series … Hit 5-for-8 with a walk, a double, four runs scored and two RBI against Auburn … Defensively has committed only three errors in conference play … Second on the team with 55 assists … Earned a .975 fielding percentage in conference play … Shares the team lead in double plays turned with nine … Recorded a conference season-high six putouts in the first game with LSU and season-high four assists in the final game with Arkansas and first game against Georgia.
Kim Waleszonia – First Team All-SEC and All-Defensive team outfielder- Second on the team in hits with 33 as Florida's lead off batter … Has hit in all but five SEC games … Recorded eight multiple hit games in conference play … Five of her eight doubles on the season and her only home run came in conference games … Hit in 11 straight conference games against Mississippi State, Georgia, Kentucky, Auburn and Tennessee … Also hit in five straight games against Alabama, Arkansas and South Carolina … Hit 3-for-4 with a run and two RBI in win over Alabama … Hit 2-for-4 with a RBI in back-to-back games against Arkansas and South Carolina … Went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored against Mississippi State … Hit 5-for-10 with a walk, a double, four runs scored and a RBI in the Kentucky series … Went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs scored and a walk in the first game against Auburn … Hit her first home run of the season in the final game of the Auburn series … Has not committed an error in the outfield this season with 22 putouts and one assist from center field … Conference season high three putouts against Auburn and Arkansas.
