Florida Softball Places Six on Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Southeast Region Teams
Friday, May 20, 2011 | Softball
The No. 3 Gator softball team placed the maximum six student-athletes on the 2011 Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Southeast Region Team, announced Thursday by the organization – a day before the start of 2011 NCAA Tournament play. Four Gators were named to the All-Southeast Region First Team, including freshman pitcher Hannah Rogers (Lake Wales, Fla.), senior first baseman Megan Bush (Anaheim Hills, Calif.), senior outfielder and SEC Player of the Year Kelsey Bruder (Corona, Calif.) and sophomore utility player Brittany Schutte (Fountain Valley, Calif.). Senior second baseman Aja Paculba (Wildomar, Calif.) and junior center fielder Michelle Moultrie (Jacksonville, Fla.) represented the Orange and Blue on the All-Southeast Region Second Team, as all six Gators will now be in contention for All-America accolades this year.
Florida's six All-Southeast Region selections were the most since 2009's six, topping the UF record books in each of the two seasons. Of the Gators' six honorees Thursday, all secured 2011 All-SEC accolades as well, with Bush, Bruder and Schutte on the first team and Rogers, Paculba and Moultrie reeling in second team honors, while Moultrie and Rogers were also on the SEC All-Defensive Team.
Brombacher, Bruder and Paculba have all earned All-America honors in their careers at UF thus far, with Brombacher picking up second and third team All-America honors in 2009 and 2010, respectively, while Bruder was named a second team All-America selection in 2009. Paculba came in as a freshman in 2008, earning second team All-America honors both her inaugural campaign and her sophomore season in 2009. Bush, a Top 10 Finalist for USA Softball's Player of the Year, will be looking for her first All-America honor after picking up All-Southeast Region accolades the past two seasons.
The Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Region teams were chosen by NFCA member coaches from each region, and all the honorees will now be eligible for selection to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-America first, second or third teams. In addition, conference pitchers and players of the year not selected to the regional teams were added for All-America consideration.
Just five of the 258 teams from 10 NFCA regions had each of their six nominees selected to an all-region team this season. No. 1 Arizona State, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Alabama, No. 6 Texas and No. 24 Notre Dame all placed six student-athletes on one of their respective region's two teams. A total of 259 players from 127 different institutions comprise this season's regional teams, including first and second teams for each region.
Florida kicks off 2011 Tournament play Friday as host of the Gainesville Regional, marking its ninth consecutive NCAA appearance, 12th in school history. UF has advanced to the Women's College World Series the past three consecutive years and will meet Bethune-Cookman at 6 p.m. at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. The Gators and Wildcats last met in last year's NCAA Regional May 21, 2010, as UF earned a 6-0 first-round victory. The Orange and Blue will look to add to its 13-2 all-time record against the Wildcats to advance in the double-elimination format.
For all news, recaps and results about Gator softball, visit www.GatorZone.com/softball. For a complete list of this year's 10 All-Region squads, visit the NFCA website.
| 2011 Louisville Slugger/NFCA | ||
| First Team | ||
| Pos. | Name | School |
| P | Ellen Renfroe | University of Tennessee |
| P | Hannah Rogers | University of Florida |
| C | Megan Yocke | University of Kentucky |
| 1B | Megan Bush | University of Florida |
| 2B | Lauren Gibson | University of Tennessee |
| 3B | Alisa Goler | University of Georgia |
| SS | Kelsi Weseman | Georgia Tech |
| OF | Kelsey Bruder | University of Florida |
| OF | Raven Chavanne | University of Tennessee |
| OF | Megan Wiggins | University of Georgia |
| UT/P | Rachel Riley | University of Kentucky |
| UT/Non-P | Brittany Schutte | University of Florida |
| Second Team | ||
| Pos. | Name | School |
| P | Sarah Sigrest | Jacksonville University |
| P | Morgan Childers | University of South Carolina Upstate |
| P | Allison Garcia | Bethune-Cookman University |
| C | Ashley Razey | University of Georgia |
| 1B | Brianna Hesson | University of Georgia |
| 2B | Aja Paculba | University of Florida |
| 3B | Bridget Desbois | North Carolina State University |
| SS | Kara Dill | University of Kentucky |
| OF | Michelle Moultrie | University of Florida |
| OF | Kat Dotson | University of Tennessee |
| OF | Meagan Aull | University of Kentucky |
| UT/P | Olivia Kline | Jacksonville University |
| UT/Non-P | Brittany Cervantes | University of Kentucky |
-UF-
