ORLANDO, Fla. – Five Carson-Newman softball players have been recognized for their capabilities on the field and off it with College Sports Communicators (ne' CoSIDA) Academic All-District honors, the organization announced Tuesday afternoon.
SieAnna Cameron (Alcoa, Tenn.), NicKolette Ferguson (Erwin, Tenn.), Brooke Matyasovsky (Orange, Conn.), Mary Vandergriff (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) and Kennady Warder (Harrodsburg, Ky.) all garner the accolade. Every member of the quintet has a GPA north of 3.70, in Ferguson's case, she sports a perfect 4.0.
All five Eagles are now eligible for CSC Academic All-America honors.
Cameron finished the regular season second in the league in batting average with a .460 average. She wrapped up the year hitting .436.
A Tucci/NFCA Player of the Year Watch List member, Cameron has a whopping 19 multi-hit efforts this season. She had 10 two-hit days, six three-hit efforts and her first three career four-hit days. Her four-hit games came against Tusculum (April 11), Newberry (March 18) and Shorter (Feb. 12). Cameron has only gone longer than seven at-bats without a hit just once this season, and she has only been hitless in consecutive games once.
Shockingly, Cameron's longest hitting streak this season is only six games long. However, she has four separate stretches of at least three straight games where she has tallied multi-hit efforts in each contest.
The junior has swiped 14 bases in 17 attempts to rank second on the team and eighth in the conference.
Ever the dangerous arm in center, she has been credited with a quartet of outfield assists.
Ferguson set Carson-Newman's single-season record and career record for games finished. She appeared in relief 19 times this season. Ferguson was 6-3 with a 3.82 ERA and a save across 44.0 innings of work.
Her longest outing came against top-10 UIndy, when she dealt 5.1 innings of eight-hit, six-run ball – only three of which were earned. She struck out a season-high four against the Greyhounds.
She tallied her second-career save against Lenoir-Rhyne (April 23), when she pitched the final inning and helped the Eagles get out of a bases loaded jam with minimal damage to preserve a 6-5 win against a top-25 team.
Matyasovsky has been no stranger to representation on the CSC/CoSIDA Academic All-America teams. She was a two-time Academic All-American at Eastern Connecticut State in the Division III ranks. Now she has the opportunity to grab an accolade as a member of Division II.
The sweet-swinging Matyasovksy finished second on the team in home runs with 10 and third in RBI with 42. She stroked an even .300 for the year with 11 doubles and the 10 dingers. Nearly half her 45 hits on the season were for extra bases.
She accounted for 10 multi-hit games and 12 multi-RBI efforts, including four-RBI days against Catawba (March 11) and Lincoln Memorial (March 29).
Vandergriff was a 41-game starter in the outfield for Carson-Newman. She hit .289 this year with 33 knocks, two doubles, a home run and 21 runs batted in.
The preseason All-SAC outfielder had eight multi-hit games and five multi-RBI efforts.
Vandergriff finished the season strong, with three multi-hit efforts in postseason play.
She hit her lone home run of the year and drove in three at Mars Hill (Feb. 22).
Finally, Warder wrapped up the year hitting .331 with 48 knocks. She bashed out eight doubles, two triples and six home runs en route to slugging .538.
She drove in 30 runs, fourth most on the team. Included in that are a pair of four-RBI games. She drove in four against USC Beaufort (Feb. 18) and Newberry (March 18).
Warder's bat was charged late, half of her home runs came after the calendar flipped to April.
She finished the year for 11 multi-hit efforts, including a quartet of three-hit days.
