Five Gator Softball Players Earn NFCA All-Southeast Region Nods
Thursday, May 16, 2013 | Softball
For their outstanding efforts on the softball diamond this season, five University of Florida softball players highlighted the 2013 NFCA All-Southeast Region teams, announced by the NFCA Thursday just a day before the No. 2 Orange and Blue (52-7) kick off NCAA Tournament play as the No. 2 National Seed against Hampton Friday at 6 p.m. in the Gainesville Regional.
Junior ace Hannah Rogers (Lake Wales, Fla.) and sophomore designated player and righty hurler Lauren Haeger (Peoria, Ariz.) both earned All-Southeast Region First Team honors. Three Gators in freshman second baseman Kelsey Stewart (Wichita, Kan.), junior third baseman Stephanie Tofft (Lincoln, Calif.) and senior right fielder Kelsey Horton (Valrico, Fla.) represent Florida on the All-Southeast Region Second Team.
The all-region teams were chosen by NFCA member coaches from each respective region, and all the honorees now become eligible for selection to one of three 2013 NFCA Division I All-American teams. Florida's five selections tied Tennessee for the most on the All-Southeast Region first and second teams.
UF has had at least five All-Southeast Region selections in five of eight years with Florida head coach Tim Walton at the helm of the program. UF's five selections are the most since the Gators had six in 2011, all of whom were named NFCA All-Americans that year.
A total of 263 players from 137 different teams across the nation were selected to the 2013 NFCA Division I All-Region teams. The awards honor softball student-athletes from the Association's 10 regions with first and second teams selected for each region.
For Rogers, a two-time All-American, the All-Region honor is her third consecutive, while Haeger picked up her second straight All-Southeast Region First Team honor after also being a first-team selection her first year on campus in 2012.
Horton, an All-Southeast Region Second Team selection at catcher last year, earned a second-consecutive nod on the NFCA All-Southeast Region Second Team, this year in the outfield. Tofft additionally picked up her second career all-region honor after being named to the All-Great Lakes Region Second Team her freshman year at Northern Illinois University in 2011.
Stewart, a 2013 All-SEC Second Team and Freshman All-SEC selection, picked up her first all-region accolade as a Gator with the honor at second base on this year's NFCA All-Southeast Region Second Team.
In addition to Stewart earning All-SEC accolades, Rogers and Haeger were first team league selections just a week and a half ago, while Horton joined Stewart on the All-SEC Second Team. Tofft was one of four Gators named to the SEC All-Tournament Team Saturday after Florida defeated Missouri, 10-4, for its third SEC Tournament Title. Stewart and fellow freshmen Kirsti Merritt (Lake Panasoffkee, Fla.) and Taylor Schwarz (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) also earned SEC All-Tournament nods, Merritt, the reigning NFCA Division I National Player of the Week, with Tournament MVP and Freshman All-SEC honors as well.
Florida's All-Region accolades cap of an exciting two weeks for the Orange and Blue, as UF clinched its fourth SEC Championship (1998, 2008, 2009, 2013) two weeks ago before sweeping the SEC Tournament last weekend in Lexington, Ky., for the program's third league tourney title (2008, 2009, 2013), all of which have come under Walton.
The 2013 NFCA Division I All-America teams will be announced at 4 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, May 29, via NFCA.org.
Visit UF's 2013 NCAA Softball Gainesville Regional Central page on GatorZone.com for all information leading up to the Gators' NCAA Tournament and postseason run. Follow the Gators on Twitter and visit the team on Facebook for all the latest on Gator softball. For broadcast and television information, visit the UF softball schedule page.
2013 NFCA All-Southeast Region Teams (view all of the NFCA All-Region teams)
First Team
| Pos. | Name | School |
| P | Chelsea Thomas | University of Missouri |
| P | Hannah Rogers | University of Florida |
| C | Megan Baltzell | Longwood University |
| 1B | Geri Ann Glasco | University of Georgia |
| 2B | Lauren Gibson | University of Tennessee |
| 3B | Raven Chavanne | University of Tennessee |
| SS | Madison Shipman | University of Tennessee |
| OF | Kaylee Puailoa | University of Georgia |
| OF | Kat Dotson | University of Tennessee |
| OF | Kori Nishitomi | Longwood University |
| UT/P | Lauren Haeger | University of Florida |
| DP/UT-Non-P | Brooke Short | Longwood University |
| Second Team | ||
| Pos. | Name | School |
| P | Lacey Waldrop | Florida State University |
| P | Ellen Renfroe | University of Tennessee |
| P | Emily Weiman | North Carolina State University |
| P | Kiana Quolas | Coastal Carolina University |
| C | Jenna Marston | University of Missouri |
| C | Sarah Simon | Jacksonville University |
| 1B | Kelsea Roth | University of Missouri |
| 2B | Kelsey Stewart | University of Florida |
| 3B | Stephanie Tofft | University of Florida |
| SS | Paige Wilson | University of Georgia |
| SS | Ashley Thomas | Georgia Tech |
| OF | Kelsey Horton | University of Florida |
| OF | Morgan Bullock | Florida State University |
| OF | Shellie Robinson | University of South Carolina Upstate |
| OF | Haley Ward | Norfolk State University |
| UT/P | Lauren Cumbess | University of Kentucky |
| DP/UT-Non-P | Nicole Hudson | University of Missouri |
