Volume 38, Issue 14. Today is
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Volume 38, Issue 14. Today is
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Softball swept out of playoffs in first round
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| Kim Patterson/MESA LEGEND |
| Outfielder Jennifer Duke was third in the ACCAC in hitting this season. |
The MCC softball team ended their season at Arizona Western with two 3-0 losses in the first round of the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference Region 1 playoffs.
Coach Dewight Byron’s squad was 37-21 for the season, and 24-10 in conference play.
Two freshman, outfielder Jennifer Duke, and pitcher/first baseman Sarah Golob, were named to the 2001 first team all-ACCAC.
Sophomore pitcher Monique Woodmansee, and outfielder Kellie Pebler were honored to the second team ACCAC, and infielder Jennifer Axtell took third team ACCAC.
Duke impressed her peers this season mainly because of her hitting ability.
She took third in the conference with a .450 batting average while blasting two homeruns.
"I’m not really a power hitter," said Duke, who was a four year varsity player at Highland High School and was named to the all-state team as a senior. "I’m not totally a weak hitter, but I have never been a power hitter so I don’t know where those homeruns came from."
Duke credits Byron for her success because of the extra time the two spend after practice working in the batting cage.
"Her work ethic and her will to be a great player put her over the top," said Byron, who was honored as Coach of the Year in 2000. "She was very coach able and she worked on her hitting and defense with great effort."
Byron got great contribution out of Golob, who supplied most of the power for the T-Birds this season. Golob had a .395 batting average, knocked out seven homeruns, hit 17 doubles, and struck out 139 batters.
"Sarah came a long way for us this year," Byron said. "She seemed to figure things out down the stretch. She walked a lot of batters early in the season, but her control improved greatly .
"I thought she would hit well this year, but I think her numbers could have even been higher."
Pebler was the T-Birds spark plug this year as she led off the batting order by getting on base, and finding a way to score.
Pebler batted .411 during her sophomore season while playing the outfield. She swiped 46 bases in 49 attempts.
"Kellie played an important role for us this year," Byron said. "She got on base a lot, and made our offense explode."
Woodmansee had tough year battling nagging injuries, but ended the season with an ERA of 0.86, while racked up 124 strike outs.
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