Junior outfielder Sadie Pitzenberger was one of five Irish players named to the NFCA all-region team.

Irish Place Five On All-Region Team For Second Consecutive Season

May 20, 2010

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) announced the 2010 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-Region teams Thursday, honoring student-athletes from the 10 NFCA regions. A total of 256 players from 116 different institutions comprise this season’s regional teams, including first and second teams for each region.

Notre Dame placed five student-athletes on the all-Great Lakes Region team. First team honorees included Jody Valdivia, Dani Miller, Katie Fleury and Sadie Pitzenberger. Christine Lux found a spot on the second team.

The all-region teams were chosen by NFCA member coaches from each region, and all the honorees will now be eligible for selection to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-America first, second or third teams. In addition, conference pitchers and players of the year not selected to the regional teams were added for All-America consideration.

Second-ranked Michigan was the only team on this year’s list to place all six of its nominees on the first team. The Wolverines, who head into this weekend’s regional with the No. 2 overall seed, accounted for half of first team in the Great Lakes Region. Notre Dame (4), Louisville (1) and Northwestern (1) rounded out the first-team selections in the region.

The NFCA Division I All-American teams will be announced June 2.

Valdivia, the 2010 BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year, is also a two-time all-BIG EAST tosser. Miller was a first-team all-region performer as a freshman, the same season in which Lux was also a headliner. The honor is the first for both Fleury and Pitzenberger. Fleury was also a first-team all-BIG EAST choice this season for the first time in her career.

Notre Dame hits the field at 4:30 p.m. (ET) Friday in NCAA Regional action at Wilpon Softball Complex in Ann Arbor, Mich. The second-seeded Irish take on third-seeded Illinois State to start the 2010 NCAA Tournament.

Great Lakes Region
First TeamPos. - Name - SchoolP - Jordan Taylor - University of MichiganP - Jody Valdivia - University of Notre DameC - Melissa Roth - University of Louisville1B - Dorian Shaw - University of Michigan2B - Dani Miller - University of Notre Dame3B - Maggie Viefhaus - University of MichiganSS - Katie Fleury - University of Notre DameUT/P - Nikki Nemitz - University of MichiganUT/DP - Michelle Batts - Northwestern UniversityOF - Bree Evans - University of MichiganOF - Angela Findlay - University of MichiganOF - Sadie Pitzenberger - University of Notre Dame
Second TeamPos. - Name - SchoolP - Bree Brown - DePaul UniversityP - Sarah Jackson - Iona CollegeP - Elizabeth Milian - Ball State UniversityC - Kacee Cox - St. John's University1B - Christine Lux - University of Notre Dame2B - Teresa Healy - Niagara University3B - Chelsea Bemis - University of Louisville3B - Jessie Ware - Ball State UniversitySS - Emily Allard - Northwestern UniversityUT/P - Becca Heteniak - DePaul UniversityUT/DP - Molly Spence - University of WisconsinOF - Lisaira Daniels - Syracuse UniversityOF - Veronica Grant - Syracuse UniversityOF - Alex Morocco - DePaul University

–ND–