Big South Announces 2018 Softball Annual Award Winners
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Gardner-Webb freshman Katie Prebble (Pomfret, Md.) and Liberty junior Julia DiMartino (Brockport, N.Y.) have been voted Big South softball Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, by the league’s head coaches, it was announced this afternoon. In addition, Lady Flames’ head coach Dot Richardson was voted Big South Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season, while Prebble also earned Freshman of the Year honors. Campbell’s Caroline Smith (Wilson, N.C.) was voted Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the Big South’s sports information directors.
Prebble is the first player in Big South softball history to be voted both Player and Freshman of the Year. She finished the regular-season as the league’s leading home run hitter with a Big South-freshman record 22, and is second overall with a .436 batting average. Prebble’s 69 RBI are the most by a freshman nationally and the second-most in the country, while her .524 on-base percentage and .973 slugging percentage pace the Big South. Prebble batted .439 in 21 conference games with seven homers, 23 RBI, a .547 OBA and .895 slugging clip. Named a Top 25 Finalist for the NFCA National Freshman of the Year, Prebble was a five-time Freshman of the Week honoree and was selected as Player of the Week once in 2018. She is currently among the top four players nationally in six statistical categories -- including tops in Division I with 145 total bases. Prebble notched 19 multi-hit and 21 multi-RBI games, reached safely in Gardner-Webb’s final 25 regular-season contests, and helped the Runnin’ Bulldogs to a fifth-place finish in the league standings -- the program’s highest since 2012. Prebble collected four first-place votes and 16 total points in the Player of the Year voting, edging out Liberty’s Amber Bishop (two first-place votes and 14 points). In the Freshman of the Year balloting, Prebble earned six first-place votes and 20 points, ahead of Longwood’s Sydney Backstrom (one first-place vote and 12 points).
DiMartino is now the sixth player win back-to-back Big South Pitcher of the Year accolades since the award was established in 2004. She concluded the regular-season with a 25-7 record, 1.83 ERA, nine shutouts, six saves and 201 strikeouts in 202.1 innings pitched. She was the Big South leader in wins, innings pitched, strikeouts, appearances (40), saves, shutouts, complete games (22) and opponents’ batting average (.203). In league contests, DiMartino finished 11-1 with a 1.11 ERA, .190 opponents’ batting average, and 84 strikeouts against 13 walks in 81.2 innings. A three-time Big South Pitcher of the Week selection in 2018, DiMartino is the only Big South pitcher in the Top 10 nationally in wins, shutouts and saves. She had a 35.2 consecutive scoreless innings streak during the campaign, and also collected non-conference wins over North Carolina (2), Ohio (2), UC Davis, N.C. State, Virginia Tech and Virginia. DiMartino fanned at least seven batters 10 times -- including three games with 10+, and threw three 1-hit games. She collected seven first-place votes and 21 points in the Pitcher of the Year voting, ahead of Longwood’s Sydney Gay (nine points).
Richardson earns her second Big South Coach of the Year honor after leading Liberty to its second-straight outright Big South regular-season championship with an 18-3 conference record -- the program’s most conference wins. She guided the Lady Flames to a 44-12 overall record -- the most regular-season victories by a Big South member since 2008, as well as a current RPI rating of 36. Liberty went 6-1 against ACC opponents this season (including 2-0 vs. North Carolina and Virginia). The Lady Flames concluded the regular-season on a 14-game winning streak, opened the season 6-0 and also won nine-straight from March 21-April 6. Liberty won six of its seven Big South series -- five of which were three-game sweeps, and finished league play first in batting (.327), slugging (.497), hits (183), doubles (40), ERA (1.47), opponents’ batting average (.196), strikeouts (134) and shutouts (8). Overall, the Lady Flames are batting .308 as a team and lead the league with 460 hits, 94 doubles, 19 triples, 2.11 earned run average, 321 strikeouts and 18 shutouts. Richardson received five first-place votes and 17 points, ahead of Gardner-Webb head coach Tom Coles (two first-place votes and 11 points).
Smith is a junior shortstop with a 3.923 GPA in Exercise Science and has started all 52 games this season. She is hitting .342 with 13 home runs and 44 RBI, and is among the Big South leaders in doubles, homers, total bases and RBI. Smith earned Player of the Week honors twice in 2018, and was also voted First-Team All-Conference at her position.
The conference also announced the 2018 All-Conference, All-Freshman and All-Academic teams, which are listed below. The All-Conference and All-Freshman teams are voted on by the head coaches, while the All-Academic Team consists of one student-athlete from each institution that meets the criteria and is nominated and selected by the league’s sports information directors.
2018 BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE SOFTBALL AWARD WINNERS
First-Team All-Conference
OF - Jade Gandara, Jr., Charleston Southern
OF - Andria Booth, Jr., Gardner-Webb
OF - Madison Via, Fr., Liberty
1B - Katie Prebble, Fr., Gardner-Webb (tie)
1B - Autumn Bishop, Soph., Liberty (tie)
2B - Amber Bishop, Soph., Liberty
SS - Caroline Smith, Jr., Campbell
3B - Rachel McCollum, R-Soph., Campbell
C - Kaylynn Batten, Jr., Longwood
P - Julia DiMartino, Jr., Liberty
P - Sydney Gay, Jr., Longwood
DP - Lizabeth McCurry, R-Sr., Campbell
UTL - Mallory Kasinger, Soph., Charleston Southern
Second-Team All-Conference
OF - Kaylee Wacaster, Jr., Gardner-Webb
OF - Annie Bakenhus, Jr., Charleston Southern
OF - Tori Zavodny, Sr., Liberty
1B - Ansley Gilreath, Soph., Winthrop
2B - Destiny Martinez, Soph., Longwood
SS - Sarah Robertson, Jr., Liberty
3B - Jaclyn Amader, Jr., Liberty
C - Ashley Westbrooks, Soph., Winthrop
P - Chase Cassady, Jr., Liberty
P - Kiley Majette, Jr., Winthrop
DP - Karleigh Donovan, Jr., Longwood
UTL - Macy Hyatt, Fr., Presbyterian
Honorable Mention All-Conference
Jasmeen Click, OF, Jr., Liberty
Jordan Clark, OF, Jr., Longwood
Krista Kelly, OF, Sr., Longwood
Abby Morrow, P, Sr., Radford
Kayla Huffman, P, Jr., Radford
All-Freshman Team
Katie Prebble, 1B, Gardner-Webb
Sydney Backstrom, P, Longwood
Madison Via, OF, Liberty
Talia Douglas, 3B, Radford
Katie Manring, INF, Campbell
Katie Stettler, SS, Gardner-Webb
Sarah Brown, 3B, Charleston Southern
Macy Hyatt, UTL, Presbyterian
Bri Bryant, OF, Campbell
Jenna Dunn, OF, Longwood
Meghan Gagliano, OF, Charleston Southern
Brianna Mills, OF, Radford
All-Academic Team
Caroline Smith, SS, Jr., Campbell
Laina Holmgren, UTL, Sr., Charleston Southern
Ashley Wark, P, Sr., Gardner-Webb
Jessica Cicerchia, 2B, Sr., Liberty
Jessica Smith, 3B, Jr., Longwood
Jonnie Petree, UTL, Jr., Presbyterian
Marissa Gagliano, SS, Jr., Radford
Blake Wallert, INF, Jr., Winthrop
Player of the Year
Katie Prebble, 1B, Fr., Gardner-Webb
Pitcher of the Year
Julia DiMartino, Jr., Liberty
Freshman of the Year
Katie Prebble, 1B, Gardner-Webb
Coach of the Year
Dot Richardson, Liberty
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Caroline Smith, SS, Jr., Campbell