Seven Huskies Named To NFCA All-Region Team
May 17, 2018 | Softball
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - After earning 11 awards from the Pac-12 at the end of the regular season, the #5 Washington Huskies added seven NFCA All-Region awards before the beginning of postseason play. Taran Alvelo, Sis Bates, Kelly Burdick, and Julia DePonte were all named to the First Team, while Gabbie Plain, Kirstyn Thomas, and Taylor Van Zee all earned their way onto the Second Team. The seven All-Region awards match Washington's most ever in a single season, accomplished in 2016.
The four First Team awards are Washington's most since 2014, one of three years Washington earned five First Team honors. For Alvelo and Van Zee, this was the third consecutive All-Region award. Bates and DePonte earned their second All-Region awards, while it was the first such honor for Burdick and Plain.
Alvelo finished the regular season on the All-Pac-12 First Team as well after going 21-4 with a 1.14 ERA. Alvelo recorded 200+ strikeouts for the second consecutive year, making her one of six Huskies to ever have 200+ strikeouts in multiple seasons. She moved to seventh in Husky history in wins and strikeouts this season and ninth in shutouts. Alvelo pitched a complete game in all but one of her 23 starts while recorded ten double-digit strikeout games. Alvelo recorded a win in her first ten appearances on the year, the first Husky to ever do so.
Bates was named the Pac-12's Defensive Player of the Year after recording the best single-season fielding percentage by a shortstop in Husky history. Bates had the 12th season by a Husky hitting .400 or better and now has 132 hits in her two seasons, the most in a player's first two years as a Husky since Kimi Pohlman's 133 in 2009 and 2010. Bates needs 14 more hits to tie the all-time record for Washington in a player's first two years of 146 hits, set by Jaime Clark. 19 times already this season Bates recorded multiple hits in a game.
After a perfect season defensively and new single-season highs in batting average, doubles, RBI, walks, OBP, and steals, Burdick earned her way onto the All-Pac-12 Second Team and All-Region First Team. Burdick stole 19 bases in 20 attempts this year, becoming the 17th player in UW history to steal 40+ bases in their career. The senior recorded three hit streaks of six or more games, including a career-best nine-game streak.
DePonte's All-Region First Team award comes after 15 multi-RBI games, leading to a career-best 47 RBI this season. DePonte became the 13th Husky in history to record 30+ career home runs. The California native hit 14 bombs on the year, almost doubling her previous career high while hitting .327/.410/.673. That line gave DePonte a .575 career slugging percentage, the 10th-best mark in UW history. She also had her second career multi-homer game with two blasts at Oregon State.
After throwing Washington's seventh ever perfect game, Plain earned All-Pac-12 First Team, All-Freshman, and All-Region Second Team awards. Plain had two scoreless streaks of over 20 innings on the year en route to being named one of the ten finalists for NFCA Freshman of the Year. At UNLV, the Australian struck out 13 in a seven-inning shutout, the most strikeouts in a single game by a Husky freshman since Danielle Lawrie in 2006. Plain went 16-4 on the season, striking out 145 batters in the regular season as part of the first Husky duo since Bryana Walker and Kaitlin Inglesby to each strike out 125+ batters, along with Alvelo.
Thomas began the year on a tear, homering five times in the season's first five games and recorded multiple runs and RBI in five of the season's first six games. Thomas had a six-game streak during non-conference play where she had multiple hits in every game. In the second game of the season, Thomas had six RBI as well as two home runs, one of her six games with multiple extra-base hits. Overall, Thomas hit .353 with 49 runs and 50 RBI, needing just one run scored to become the fifth Husky since 2000 to record 50 of each in a single season.
In her senior season, Van Zee hit .363/.453/.614 while batting leadoff for the first time in her career. Van Zee hit a home run in the season's very first at-bat en route to career-best marks in doubles, home runs, and slugging percentage. The California native also committed just one error while playing almost every single inning of the year at third base, good for a sparkling .992 fielding percentage. Van Zee's 62 hits, her fourth straight 60-hit season, helped her become the eighth active player in Division I softball with 250+ career hits. Her 261 career hits put her 10th in UW history.
The postseason begins this Friday, May 18, when the Huskies take on Boise State at 8:30 pm. Washington is the top seed at the Seattle Regional and the nation's fifth seed.
Make sure to follow Husky softball on Twitter with the username @UWSoftball and on Instagram at uwsoftball.
The four First Team awards are Washington's most since 2014, one of three years Washington earned five First Team honors. For Alvelo and Van Zee, this was the third consecutive All-Region award. Bates and DePonte earned their second All-Region awards, while it was the first such honor for Burdick and Plain.
Alvelo finished the regular season on the All-Pac-12 First Team as well after going 21-4 with a 1.14 ERA. Alvelo recorded 200+ strikeouts for the second consecutive year, making her one of six Huskies to ever have 200+ strikeouts in multiple seasons. She moved to seventh in Husky history in wins and strikeouts this season and ninth in shutouts. Alvelo pitched a complete game in all but one of her 23 starts while recorded ten double-digit strikeout games. Alvelo recorded a win in her first ten appearances on the year, the first Husky to ever do so.
Bates was named the Pac-12's Defensive Player of the Year after recording the best single-season fielding percentage by a shortstop in Husky history. Bates had the 12th season by a Husky hitting .400 or better and now has 132 hits in her two seasons, the most in a player's first two years as a Husky since Kimi Pohlman's 133 in 2009 and 2010. Bates needs 14 more hits to tie the all-time record for Washington in a player's first two years of 146 hits, set by Jaime Clark. 19 times already this season Bates recorded multiple hits in a game.
After a perfect season defensively and new single-season highs in batting average, doubles, RBI, walks, OBP, and steals, Burdick earned her way onto the All-Pac-12 Second Team and All-Region First Team. Burdick stole 19 bases in 20 attempts this year, becoming the 17th player in UW history to steal 40+ bases in their career. The senior recorded three hit streaks of six or more games, including a career-best nine-game streak.
DePonte's All-Region First Team award comes after 15 multi-RBI games, leading to a career-best 47 RBI this season. DePonte became the 13th Husky in history to record 30+ career home runs. The California native hit 14 bombs on the year, almost doubling her previous career high while hitting .327/.410/.673. That line gave DePonte a .575 career slugging percentage, the 10th-best mark in UW history. She also had her second career multi-homer game with two blasts at Oregon State.
After throwing Washington's seventh ever perfect game, Plain earned All-Pac-12 First Team, All-Freshman, and All-Region Second Team awards. Plain had two scoreless streaks of over 20 innings on the year en route to being named one of the ten finalists for NFCA Freshman of the Year. At UNLV, the Australian struck out 13 in a seven-inning shutout, the most strikeouts in a single game by a Husky freshman since Danielle Lawrie in 2006. Plain went 16-4 on the season, striking out 145 batters in the regular season as part of the first Husky duo since Bryana Walker and Kaitlin Inglesby to each strike out 125+ batters, along with Alvelo.
Thomas began the year on a tear, homering five times in the season's first five games and recorded multiple runs and RBI in five of the season's first six games. Thomas had a six-game streak during non-conference play where she had multiple hits in every game. In the second game of the season, Thomas had six RBI as well as two home runs, one of her six games with multiple extra-base hits. Overall, Thomas hit .353 with 49 runs and 50 RBI, needing just one run scored to become the fifth Husky since 2000 to record 50 of each in a single season.
In her senior season, Van Zee hit .363/.453/.614 while batting leadoff for the first time in her career. Van Zee hit a home run in the season's very first at-bat en route to career-best marks in doubles, home runs, and slugging percentage. The California native also committed just one error while playing almost every single inning of the year at third base, good for a sparkling .992 fielding percentage. Van Zee's 62 hits, her fourth straight 60-hit season, helped her become the eighth active player in Division I softball with 250+ career hits. Her 261 career hits put her 10th in UW history.
The postseason begins this Friday, May 18, when the Huskies take on Boise State at 8:30 pm. Washington is the top seed at the Seattle Regional and the nation's fifth seed.
Make sure to follow Husky softball on Twitter with the username @UWSoftball and on Instagram at uwsoftball.
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