RADFORD, Va. – Winthrop senior outfielder Lisa Kingsmore and Radford skipper Mickey Dean have been voted as the 2009 Big South Conference Softball Player of the Year and Coach of the Year, respectively, by the League’s head coaches, it was announced this evening at the annual softball awards banquet held at the Dedmon Center on the campus of Radford University. The coaches voted Radford hurler Chelsea Kelley Pitcher of the Year, and Radford outfielder Leigh Godfrey as the League’s Freshman of the Year. Kingsmore was also voted Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the League’s sports information directors.
Kingsmore ranks No. 1 in the Big South and is eighth in the country with a .460 average at the plate. She is also ranked No. 25 in division I with an on base percentage of .515. Kingsmore ranks second in the Big South with 69 hits and 37 RBI on the year, while posting 12 doubles and one triple for a .733 slugging percentage. She is the fourth player all-time to earn back-to-back Big South Player of the Year plaudits and is the first player since East Carolina’s Isonette Polonius did it during the 1998-99 seasons. Kingsmore and Polonius are also the only players in league history to earn both awards in back-to-back seasons. Kingsmore’s 282 career hits ranks No. 3 all-time in the Big South and her .388 career batting average is good for eighth all-time in League history. Her .460 average this season is currently No. 8 on the League’s single season list.
Dean coached his Highlanders to the school’s first-ever Big South regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed in the Big South Conference softball championship as his team went 37-12 overall and 16-2 in League play. His squad is ranked in the top 15 in the country in six offensive categories. Radford ranks No. 12 in the country with a .318 average at the plate, 10th in home runs per game with 1.2 and is 12th with 1.61 doubles per game. RU’s .35 triples per game is good for ninth in the country and its 2.16 stolen bases per game and .532 slugging percentage are both ranked No. 10 in the nation, respectively. One of the Highlanders’ biggest wins of the season came on March 8 when they downed then-No. 25 Mississippi State, 3-1.
Kelley, a sophomore, posted a League-high 21 wins this season and ranks No. 2 in the Big South with a 2.51 ERA. She is No. 9 in the country with four saves on the year and has 93 strikeouts. One of the League’s busiest pitchers this season, Kelley has tossed 173 innings this season and has a League-high 40 appearances. She is 13-1 in Big South games this season, including six complete game victories. She is holding opponents to a .242 average at the plate and carries a winning percentage of .733.
Godfrey is currently ranked No. 9 in the nation with a .458 average at the dish, while her 0.34 doubles per game is good for No. 12 nationally. She is ranked fifth in the country with 1.16 runs per game and was named the Big South’s Player of the Week on March 30. She swiped a Big South leading 24-of-30 bases on the year and is tops in the Conference with 112 total bases. She leads the League with 71 hits, paces the Big South with 51 runs scored and has recorded four triples on the year to rank No. 2 in the League. The honor is Radford’s second-straight Freshman of the Year selection.
First-Team All-Conference
OF: Lisa Kingsmore, Winthrop
OF: Leigh Godfrey, Radford
OF: Tessa Thomas, Winthrop
1B: Christa Fullwood, Gardner-Webb
2B: Amy Trenkamp, Charleston Southern
SS: Kristen Shifflett, Radford
3B: Nichole Beall, Radford
C: Sarah Himan, Radford
DP: Jamie Wellons, Charleston Southern
Taylor Wright, Winthrop
UT: Kelsey Witter, Gardner-Webb
P: Chelsea Kelley, Radford
P: Tiffani Smith, Liberty
Second Team All-Conference
OF: Shannon Keefe, Radford
OF: Macaela Ballard, Coastal Carolina
OF: Melissa Adams, Charleston Southern
1B: Megan Hall, Charleston Southern
2B: Kelsey Riffel, Coastal Carolina
Jenn Everhart, Radford
SS: Melody Harrell, Gardner-Webb
Kelly Strickland, Liberty
3B: Michelle Evans, Coastal Carolina
C: Mandy Ward, Gardner-Webb
UT: Lenny Stoddart, Winthrop
P: Cari Wooldridge, Winthrop
P: Megan Evans, Winthrop
Academic All-Conference
Lisa Kingsmore, Winthrop
Christa Fullwood, Gardner-Webb
Gail Matsushima, Charleston Southern
Kelsey Riffel, Coastal Carolina
Kellie Snooks, Radford
Erin Stewart, Presbyterian
Beth Bennett, Liberty
Player of the Year
Lisa Kingsmore, Winthrop
Pitcher of the Year
Chelsea Kelley, Radford
Freshman of the Year
Leigh Godfrey, Radford
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Lisa Kingsmore, Winthrop
Coach of the Year
Mickey Dean, Radford
