ROCK HILL, SC—The Winthrop softball team garnered five All-Big South Conference awards at the annual  softball awards banquet Wednesday evening, which was held at the DiGiorgio Center on the campus of Winthrop University.

Sophomore Chelsey Schoenfeldt was voted First Team All-Big South while senior Veronica Berrie, Sophomore Kathryn Eberlin and junior Megan Chapman were all voted Second Team All-Big South.

Junior Kelly Blea was named to the Big South Conference All-Academic Team.

Schoenfeldt, named the designated player on the first team, led the Big South with a .371 batting average during the regular season, which was a career-high. She also set career-highs in several categories including runs, hits, doubles, home runs and RBI.

Berrie made second team as an outfielder while Eberlin was voted in at first base and Chapman at shortstop. Berrie batted .273 with 13 runs and 13 RBI to go along with a fielding percentage of .976 (just one error on the season). Berrie started 45 games in center field. It is the first time she's been named all-conference. Berrie earned Big South All-Tournament Team honors in 2010.

Eberlin was voted all-conference for the first time in her career as the first year starter began the year at third base and eventually settled in at first base for the final 30 games of the year. She hit .252 with 17 runs and nine RBI and was very solid defensively at first and third by posting a fielding percentage of .981.

It is also the first time Chapman has earned all-conference honors as she had a career year. The junior batted .331 on the year and had an impressive .415 over the final 21 games of the season after injuring her hand prior to the Liberty series. She also led all shortstops in the Big South with 81 putouts and 141 assists. Her 31 runs were tied for fifth most in the league.

Blea earned her first All-Academic Team award. The junior started 41 games and had a .243 batting average with 11 runs and seven RBI and a .990 fielding percentage. Blea is a physical education major and boasts a 3.72 grade point average.

Winthrop is the seventh seed for the Big South Conference Tournament presented by Musco Lighting, which begins Thursday morning at Terry Field. Winthrop will face second-seeded Liberty at 12:30 p.m. in its opener of the tournament. 

2011 Big South Conference Softball Award Winners

 

First-Team All-Conference

OF: Tera Powell, Presbyterian College

OF: Melinda Dulkowski, Gardner-Webb

OF: Codee Yeske, Presbyterian College

1B: Morgan Baker, Gardner-Webb

2B: Nichole Beall, Radford

SS: Megan Lombard, Charleston Southern

3B: Ashley Bensinger, Liberty

C: Keely McMillon, Liberty

DP: Chelsey Schoenfeldt, Winthrop

UT: Samantha Meegnahan, Gardner-Webb

P: Jackie Jenkins, Radford

P: Leslie Hensley, Presbyterian College

 

Second Team All-Conference

OF: Jana Matthews, Charleston Southern

OF: Amber DePasquale, Liberty

OF: Veronica Berrie, Winthrop

1B: Kaylee West, Liberty (tie)

       Kathryn Eberlin, Winthrop (tie)

2B: Kelly Strickland, Liberty

SS: Megan Chapman, Winthrop

3B: Jessica Brock, Charleston Southern

C: Erin Kegley, Charleston Southern (tie)

     Chelsea Pineda, Coastal Carolina (tie)

DP: Stephanie Sbardella, Charleston Southern

UT: Taylor Cunningham, Radford

P: Katrina Johnson, Liberty

P: Stephanie Dameron, Radford

 

All-Academic Team

Erin Kegley, Charleston Southern

Sarah Maples, Coastal Carolina

Jane Savage, Gardner-Webb

Katrina Johnson, Liberty

Leslie Hensley, Presbyterian College

Chelsea Kelley, Radford

Kelly Blea, Winthrop

 

Co-Player of the Year

Kelly Strickland Liberty

Nichole Beall, Radford

 

Pitcher of the Year

Jackie Jenkins, Radford

 

Freshman of the Year

Samantha Meenaghan, Gardner-Webb

 

Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Chelsea Kelley, Radford

 

Coach of the Year

Mickey Dean, Radford