Mississippi Valley State’s Young and Southern’s Taylor Lead 2005 All-SWAC Softball Team

February 4, 2005

Mississippi Valley State’s Balencia Young (5-4, Jr, OF, North Little Rock, AR) was chosen as the 2005 SWAC Softball Pre-Season Player of the Year, and Southern’s Jamila Taylor (P/FB, 5-8, Jr., Hanford, CA) was selected as Pre-Season Pitcher of the Year.

Young was named Most Outstanding Hitter and Most Valuable Player of the 2004 SWAC Softball Tournament, and led the SWAC in runs batted in (34), batting average (.403), slugging percentage (.724), home runs (8), total bases (97), and stolen bases (33 of 38) categories last season.

Taylor was named the 2004 SWAC Newcomer of the Year, and received First Team honors on the 2004 ALL-SWAC Softball Team. Taylor started in 19 games (1 st on team), had an ERA of 1.40 (2 nd on team), 12 wins (1 st on team) and 21 appearances (1 st on team) as a pitcher, and lead the Jaguars with a batting average of .405.

The 2005 SWAC Pre-Season Softball Team and predicted order of finish were selected by votes from the conference’s sports information directors and softball coaches.

2005 SWAC Pre-Season Softball Team

Pitchers
Nicole Henderson-Mississippi Valley State (Pitcher, 5-7, So., Vancouver, Canada)
Jamye Roberts- Southern (P/OF/SS, 5-6, Jr., Stone Mountain, GA)
Jamila Taylor- Southern- (P/FB, 5-8, Jr., Hanford, CA)

Catcher
Kimberly Fernandez-Prairie View A&M (Catcher ,5-7, Sr., San Antonio, TX)

Infielders
Candise Jacobs- Alabama State (SS, 5-8, Jr., Macon, GA)
Cristal Holmes-Mississippi Valley State (1B, 5-7, Jr., Cleveland, MS)
Danielle Ross- Jackson State (3B, Sr., 5-7, Silver Creek, MS)
Ashley Meyers- Alabama A&M (Infield, 5-9, Sr., Auburn, CA)

Outfielders
Balencia Young- Mississippi Valley State (RF, Jr., 5-4, North Little Rock, AR)
Tyeah Patterson- Alabama State (OF, 5-9, Sr., Pascagoula, MS)
Nikki Lilly- Prairie View A&M (OF, 5-4, So., Hempstead, TX)

Pitcher of the Year
Jamila Taylor-Southern (Pitcher, 5-8, Jr., Hanford, CA)

Player of the Year
Balencia Young- Mississippi Valley State (5-4, Jr, OF, North Little Rock, AR)