Big South Announces 2021 Softball Annual Award Winners
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Campbell outfielder Destini England (Hoover, Ala.) and Longwood senior Sydney Backstrom (Huntersville, N.C.) 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, Campbell head coach Sharonda McDonald-Kelley was voted Big South Coach of the Year, while USC Upstate’s Bre Cooper (Massillon, Ohio) earned Freshman of the Year honors. Radford senior Sydney Fisher (Appling, Ga.) was voted Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the Big South’s sports information directors.
England finished the regular-season as the league’s second-leading hitter with a .378 average while leading the NCAA in triples with 9 -- the most in the Big South since 1997 and tied for third-most in a single-season in conference history. She tallied 15 RBI, 14 extra-base hits, 27 runs scored and 19 stolen bases. England provided a walk-off hit during the season and scored three game-winning runs for the Camels. In Big South games, England was the top hitter with a .517 average (31-60) -- the only batter above .500 in league action, with seven triples, 22 runs and 14 RBI. England collected five first-place votes and 11 points in the Player of the Year voting, just ahead of Radford’s Fisher (two first-place votes and nine points).
Backstrom went a Big South-best 19-11 with a 2.46 ERA and 179 strikeouts in 196.1 innings pitched in 2021. She ranks in the top three in the nation and innings pitched and complete games (23), and leads the Big South in opponent batting average (.186), shutouts (5), appearances (37) and starts (32). Backstrom is second in the conference in strikeouts and saves, while ranking third in earned run average. The 4-time Big South Pitcher of the Week also led the Big South with an 11-3 record in conference play, with a 1.76 ERA and 95 K’s in 99.2 innings, and held foes to a .160 hitting clip. Backstrom’s season featured a perfect game against Presbyterian on April 17, plus two one-hit shutouts and two three-hit shutouts. She received six first-place votes and 17 points in the voting, ahead of Winthrop’s Madyson Watson (nine points) and Campbell’s Georgeanna Barefoot (eight points).
McDonald-Kelley earns her first Big South Coach of the Year after leading Campbell to its first outright Big South regular-season championship since rejoining the conference in 2012, and second overall (1994). The Camels finished first with a 15-3 league mark and went 24-16 overall, and was second in batting average (.281), had a league-high 18 triples, 2.72 earned run average and eight shutouts. In league action, Campbell paced the conference with a .305 batting average -- the lone squad above .300, and was tops in pitching with a 1.56 earned run average. McDonald-Kelley received six first-place votes and 20 points, ahead of Longwood head coach Dr. Megan Brown (one first-place vote and 10 points).
Cooper was a three-time Big South Freshman of the Week honoree and started 37 of 39 games this season. She finished second on the Spartans with a .325 batting average to rank ninth in the Big South, scored 26 runs and tallied 41 base hits. Cooper posted seven doubles, one triple, three home runs, 19 RBI and 59 total bases during the regular-season. She also finished with 11 multi-hit games and six multi-RBI games this year. Cooper recorded a .375 on-base percentage, nine stolen bases and a perfect fielding percentage with 42 putouts in the outfield. Cooper received six first-place votes and 19 points in the Freshman of the Year voting, ahead of Campbell’s Delaney McDilda (one first-place vote and 13 points).
Fisher is a senior infielder with a 4.00 GPA as a double major in biology and chemistry with an emphasis in biochemistry and animal studies. Fisher does research in soil sample analysis and aquatic insect identification. A Senior CLASS Award Top 10 Finalist, she presented some of her research at Radford University's Winter Creative Activities and Research Days (CARD) and will be presenting her new research later in the year. Fisher finished the regular-season as the Big South’s leading hitter with a .383 overall batting average and was a First-team All-Conference selection.
The conference also announced the 2021 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.
2021 BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE SOFTBALL AWARD WINNERS
First-Team All-Conference
OF Destini England, Gr., Campbell
OF Sydney Fisher, Sr., Radford
OF Bri Bryant, R-Jr., Campbell
1B Sydney Jacobsen, Jr., Longwood
2B Brooklynn Brewington, Jr., Charleston Southern
SS Sarah Price, Soph., USC Upstate
3B Talia Douglas, Sr., Radford
C Peyton Darnell, Fr., USC Upstate
P Sydney Backstrom, Sr., Longwood
P Georgeanna Barefoot, R-Fr., Campbell
DP Madyson Watson, Gr., Winthrop
UTL Riley Oakes, Soph., Radford
Second-Team All-Conference
OF Macy McCall, Soph., Winthrop
OF Claudia Ware, R-Soph., Campbell
OF Bre Cooper, Fr., USC Upstate
1B Ansley Gilreath, Gr., Winthrop
2B Tiffany Domingue, Fr., USC Upstate
SS Autumn Slemaker, Soph., Radford
3B Delaney McDilda, Fr., Campbell
C Taylor Charlton, Sr., Winthrop
P Mallie Brown, Jr., USC Upstate
P Haley Haselden, Sr., Presbyterian College
DP Kayla Fredendall, R-Jr., Campbell
UTL Mason Basdikis, Jr., Longwood
Honorable Mention All-Conference
Weslyn Almond, OF, Sr., Gardner-Webb
Madison Canady, 1B, Soph., Radford
Nia Green, OF, Soph., Longwood
Leslie McNeil, UTL, Soph., Gardner-Webb
Jesse Marvin, P, Jr., Radford
All-Freshman Team
Bre Cooper, OF, Fr., USC Upstate
Georgeanna Barefoot, P, R-Fr., Campbell
Peyton Darnell, C, Fr., USC Upstate
Delaney McDilda, 3B, Fr., Campbell
Kayla Howald, P, R-Fr., Campbell
Aisha Weixlmann, P, Fr., Winthrop
Bailey Warren, OF/DP, Fr., Winthrop
Kaitlyn Tucker, SS, Fr., Winthrop
Lauren Fox, OF, Fr., Longwood
Kaitlyn Tucker, 2B/SS, Fr., Presbyterian College
Tiffany Domingue, 2B, Fr., USC Upstate
Savannah Brown, P, Fr., USC Upstate
All-Academic Team
Destini England, OF, Gr., Campbell
Annah Junge, P, Soph., Charleston Southern
Brooke Perry, P, R-Sr., Gardner-Webb
Yndeiah Kilby, OF, Soph., Hampton
Alexis Wayland, C, Jr., Longwood
Katelyn Petty, Jr., Presbyterian
Sydney Fisher, OF, Sr., Radford
Sarah Price, SS, R-Soph., USC Upstate
Ansley Gilreath, 1B, Gr., Winthrop
Player of the Year
Destini England, OF, Gr., Campbell
Pitcher of the Year
Sydney Backstrom, Sr., Longwood
Freshman of the Year
Bre Cooper, OF, USC Upstate
Coach of the Year
Sharonda McDonald-Kelley, Campbell
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Sydney Fisher, OF, Sr., Radford