Lady Eagles claim several awards at SSAC Banquet
Senior pitcher, Leigh Baker from Macon, Georgia was selected as the SSAC Pitcher of the Year for a second consecutive season. Baker had a season record of 22 wins and 8 loses. Leigh also led the conference in strikeouts with 290 and had an era of 1.00. Leigh has also received the NAIA National Pitcher of the week and had received 3 SSAC pitcher of the week awards. Leigh finished this season with 2 no hitters and 6 shut outs. She currently leads the nation in strikeouts.
Senior 3rd baseman, Melissa Peters from Warner Robins, Georgia was chosen as the SSAC Player of the Year. Melissa led the SSAC with a .500 batting average, 59 RBI's and 23 doubles. Melissa was chosen as the SSAC Player of the Week this season and has set several offensive records during her 2 years at Reinhardt. Melissa is ranked in the top 10 in the nation in several offensive categories.
Several other Lady Eagles received awards at the SSAC banquet at Lee University on Wednesday night. Joining Baker and Peters on First Team All Conference was shortstop Casey Hollifield and first baseman Lindsay Swafford. Casey Hollifield, a sophomore from Dallas, Georgia hit .350 on the season and had 15 stolen bases on the season. Lindsay Swafford a freshman from Cedartown, Georgia had a great season hitting .353 and leading the Eagles with 9 homeruns. The Lady Eagles placed 3 on the 2nd Team All Conference and 4 freshmen made the All Freshman Team. Junior, centerfielder Shastin Rader, Junior, right fielder Tiffany Davis, and Senior, 2nd baseman Deidre Thompson made the SSAC 2nd Team All Conference. Joining Swafford on the All Freshman Team were leftfielder Nicole Rice of Douglasville, Georgia, right fielder Cayla Farmer of Adairsville, Georgia, and catcher Morgan Basone of Woodstock, Georgia.
The Lady Eagles placed 7 young ladies on the SSAC All Academic Team. Seniors Candice Lumpkin of Dalton, senior Deidre Thompson of Oxford, senior Melissa Peters of Warner Robins, senior Leigh Baker of Macon, junior Tiffany Davis of Canton, junior Whitney Fagge of Gainesville, and sophomore Casey Hollifield of Dallas were all honored for there outstanding accomplishments in the classroom. All these young ladies carried a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or better to receive this award.
Coach Wilcoxson said, "I am really proud of our girls. The hard work has paid off for them individually and as a team. It is a great honor to receive these awards. It shows the respect that other coaches in our conference have for our team and our girls."