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May 10, 2006
2006 Southern Conference Awards Banquet Photo Gallery
Chattanooga, Tenn. - The regular season champion Western Carolina Catamounts landed six individuals on the All-Southern Conference teams and received three of the four yearly honors handed out by the conference office as voted on by the league's eight head coaches. Freshmen Mendy McKenzie, Heather Pritchard, Allyson McCubbins and Jenny Jackson, as well as junior Ashley Adams, earned first team accolades while sophomore Savannah Filley picked up second team all-conference honors.
McKenzie was also named the SoCon Pitcher of the Year, while Jackson was dubbed Freshman of the Year and first-year head coach, Megan Smith, earned Coach of the Year honors after guiding her squad to a 41-18 overall record and 16-4 league mark.
All of the awards are the first post-season honors received by the first-year Catamounts and were presented at the annual SoCon awards banquet in Chattanooga on Wednesday night. Also, Western was presented with the championship trophy for winning the league's regular season at the awards dinner.
"First of all, I am thrilled for our program and our players. They worked extremely hard this season and are helping to build a tradition for Catamount softball," said Smith. "I knew coming in that we had some very talented student-athletes, but to accomplish what they have in this inaugural season is incredible and we would like to finish off this SoCon year strong in the tournament."
After being the lone Catamount to earn pre-season all-conference accolades prior to this inaugural season, McKenzie was a virtual lock for the SoCon's Pitcher of the Year honor. The Clemmons, N.C., native led the league in wins (22) and strikeouts (207), while also ranking second in overall earned run average (2.17), and third in conference-only ERA (1.88). Her 207 K's also rank as the sixth-best SoCon single-season on record entering the post-season. In the most recent NCAA stats (5/7/06), McKenzie's 22 victories also ranked 29th in the nation and are currently tied for ninth on the SoCon single-season record books. Along the way, the rookie right hander garnered a SoCon-record five weekly pitching honors and was twice named SoCon Pitcher of the Month (February and March) out of the three monthly awards given.
McKenzie holds the distinction of throwing the first-ever pitch (a strike versus Tennessee Tech, 2/11/06), first strikeout (vs. TTU, 2/11/06), and tallying the first-ever win (vs. TTU, 2/11/06) and save (vs. UNC Wilmington, 3/11/06). She also holds the school record for strikeouts in a game, fanning 11 on two separate occasions (vs. Pittsburgh, 3/7/06; vs. North Carolina A&T, 4/13/06).
A native of Fremont, N.C., Jackson was a vital part of the Catamount lineup during this inaugural season, spending time at second base, designated player, both right and left field, and toeing the rubber. She was fourth on the team in overall batting average at the close of the regular season, hitting .302 (52-of-172) and was second on the squad in total wins (15) and ERA (2.38). Her batting numbers ranked her 16th in the conference overall and she is tied for third in total RBI with 44. Her ERA also ranks third in the league with her conference-only pitching average of 2.36 ranking eighth.
Jackson, who has made only three errors all season for a fielding percentage of 971, holds the distinction of tossing Western's first-ever no-hitter, shutting down Alabama A&M in the Best Western Catamount Classic (3/18/06).
Pitcher of the Year, Mendy McKenzie (left); Coach of the Year, Megan Smith (center); Freshman of the Year, Jenny Jackson (right)  |
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In addition to the aforementioned pitcher and freshman of the year award winners, the Catamounts were deserving of the three additional first team and one second team selections. Outfielder Ashley Adams re-wrote the Southern Conference record books, shattering the previous mark for home runs in a single-season, 17, by blasting 21 to date to lead the league and rank third nationally in home runs per game. The Hickory, N.C., product by way of Walters State Community College also tops the RBI charts with 60, five shy of setting a single-season conference record, which ranks 12th in the NCAA with an average of 1.05 RBIs per game. Adams is currently hitting .316 to rank 13th in the SoCon, while also ranking fourth in runs scored with 44.
Freshmen Allyson McCubbins and Heather Pritchard each earned first-team all-conference accolades in positions that they did not start the season playing. McCubbins made the move from the outfield to behind the plate to fill in for the displaced Pritchard, who shed the catcher's gear for the active shortstop position after early-season starter, freshman Mollie Fowler, suffered a season-ending leg injury. McCubbins led the league in walks, drawing 46 this season, which is second in the SoCon's record books and just 11 shy of setting a new mark. She also finished the regular season ranked 2nd in runs scored (52), 7th in hits (59), 7th in doubles (11), 10th in batting average (.328), and 12th in home runs (12). McCubbins legged out the first-ever double in school history, doing so in the bottom of the first inning in the home opener versus South Carolina State (2/19/06). Pritchard led the team, ranking fourth in the SoCon, in batting average with a .364 through the regular season and drew 28 walks, second on the team and fourth in the league. The Hudson, N.C., native also ranked third in runs scored (46) and has nine home runs on the year.
Western Carolina received its 2006 Regular Season Championship trophy on Wednesday night. |
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Rounding out Western's all-conference selections was sophomore Savannah Filley, who spent most of the season as a utility player, playing second and pitching, as well as an offensive weapon. Filley won four games in the circle in 19 total appearances with 28 strikeouts. At the plate, the Crossville, Tenn., native finished with a .273 overall average but hit 14 home runs - second in the SoCon - three doubles and a triple. She drove in 41 RBI and ranked sixth in the league in walks (26), drawing the first free pass in school history (bottom 6th vs. TTU, 2/11/06).
Helping start the Catamount program from scratch, Megan Smith guided the first-year team from a pre-season seventh-place prediction to first in the conference, standing atop the standings the majority of the season. Along the way, Smith, who held one head coaching position previously (Young Harris, 2001-02), surpassed the 100-win plateau in the two-day halted due two snow nine-inning game versus Furman.
Top-seeded Western Carolina will open play in the 2006 Southern Conference tournament at 9:00 am Thursday morning at Frost Field in Chattanooga, facing the eighth-seeded UNC Greensboro Spartans. Due to weather, the start of the annual championship event was postponed on Wednesday, forcing teams to double-up on Thursday with both first and second round games. All of WCU's games played on Frost Field will be broadcast live on WWCU-FM, Power 90dot5 in Cullowhee and on-line at www.WWCUFM.com. Air time on Thursday morning is set for 8:45 am.
2006 All-Southern Conference Teams
First Team
P - Mendy McKenzie, Western Carolina
P - Melissa Laliberte, Georgia Southern
1B - Heather Smith, Georgia Southern
2B - Paige Goss, Elon
3B - Lindsay Glover, Appalachian State
SS - Heather Pritchard, Western Carolina
C - Allyson McCubbins, Western Carolina
OF - Jess Mathis, Furman
OF - Shanita Black, Georgia Southern
OF - Ashley Adams, Western Carolina
DP - Shannon Howard, College of Charleston
U - Jenny Jackson, Western Carolina
Second Team
P - Yancy Moose, Appalachian State
P - Logan Free, Georgia Southern
1B - Jennifer Bonilla, UNC Greensboro
2B - Gina Sterchi, Georgia Southern
3B - Izmena Cabrera, College of Charleston
SS - Kasey Motsinger, Appalachian State
C - Jayme Durand, College of Charleston
OF - Jennifer Golden, College of Charleston
OF - Jeannie Cochran, Chattanooga
OF - Amber Kiser, Furman
DP - Savannah Filley, Western Carolina
U - Ashleigh Bull, Chattanooga
Player of the Year
Shanita Black, Georgia Southern
Pitcher of the Year
Mendy McKenzie, Western Carolina
Freshman of the Year
Jenny Jackson, Western Carolina
Coach of the Year
Megan Smith, Western Carolina
