May 14, 2015
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — It has been a historic two years for the University of Notre Dame softball team in National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) all-region voting. For the second consecutive season the Irish landed a program record seven players on NFCA Mid-Atlantic all-region teams, as was announced by the NFCA on Thursday.
Senior co-captain, two-time All-American and 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Player of the Year Emilee Koerner (Tustin, California/Foothill), senior Katey Haus (Oceanside, California/Vista), junior All-American Micaela Arizmendi (Huntington Beach, California/Mater Dei) and sophomore All-American Karley Wester (Huntington Beach, California/Edison) were each named to the NFCA Mid-Atlantic all-region first team. The four first teamers were the second-most for Notre Dame in a single season, tying the 2009 and 2011 Irish teams that also had four representatives.
Senior Cassidy Whidden (Parrish, Florida/St. Stephens) earned all-region recognition for the second straight season by being tabbed to the NFCA Mid-Atlantic all-region second team, as did senior co-captain Jenna Simon (Granger, Indiana/Penn) as a member of the region’s third team. Freshman Morgan Reed (Maylene, Alabama/Briarwood Christian) rounded out the Notre Dame honorees alongside Simon on the NFCA Mid-Atlantic all-region third team.
Since the 1992 season, Notre Dame has earned a total of 88 all-region accolades, with 54 players receiving first team recognition in that span.
Koerner became just the fifth player in Notre Dame history to earn first team all-region citations in three consecutive seasons, joining fellow All-Americans Dani Miller (2009-11), Megan Ciolli (2002-05), Katie Marten (1995-97) and Terri Kobata (1993-96). Koerner ranks third on the Irish roster (and fifth in the ACC) with a .398 batting average entering NCAA Regional play, chipping in 66 hits, 14 doubles, 10 home runs, 50 RBI, a .675 slugging percentage, a .448 on-base percentage and 47 runs scored.
Koerner has established Notre Dame career records for runs scored (188) and total bases (460) already in 2015, extending her all-time lead in both doubles (75) and slugging percentage (.690). The Irish standout became the 14th Notre Dame player to earn a conference player of the year award in the program’s 27-year history when she was announced as the ACC Player of the Year on May 7, after leading the conference with a .493 average, 35 hits and 28 runs scored in 23 league starts.
Haus added another accolade to her breakout senior campaign that included a pair of ACC Player of the Week scrolls (Feb. 9 and April 6) and her first career all-conference medal as a member of the all-ACC first team. Haus currently ranks second in the Notre Dame lineup (third in the ACC) with a .409 batting average, clubbing a team-high 11 home runs, 53 RBI and slugging at a .707 clip. Along with those career-high totals and a team-high 15 multi-RBI games, Haus has also established personal bests for hits (67), doubles (14), on-base percentage (.484) and runs scored (40) in 2015.
Arizmendi secured first team all-region status for the second straight season after earning second team All-America distinction from the NFCA in 2014. A 2015 all-ACC first team choice, Arizmendi leads all Notre Dame players with 16 doubles and has added a .363 batting average, 11 home runs, 48 RBI, a .661 slugging percentage and 36 runs scored. Arizmendi trails only Haus with 13 multi-RBI games this season, and has contributed 17 multi-hit efforts in 53 games played.
Reigning second team NFCA All-American Wester also repeated as both an all-region and all-ACC first team selection after earlier being tabbed as a 2015 USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year Top 26 finalist this season. She is the Notre Dame team leader with a .432 batting average (second in the ACC), and has added a conference-high 79 hits and 58 runs scored over 53 starts. Wester paced all Notre Dame players with 27 multi-hit games entering NCAA Regionals, and ranks second in the ACC behind Simon with 24 stolen bases in 25 attempts.
Whidden brought home all-region recognition for the second time in as many years with another solid season as the primary Notre Dame catcher. Whidden batted .271 with 10 doubles, 10 home runs, 38 RBI, a .571 slugging percentage, a .429 on-base percentage and 35 runs scored in her first 53 starts of 2015. She has added 317 putouts and 21 assists on the defensive side of the diamond as the Irish backstop.
Simon notched her second career all-region scroll after leading Notre Dame and the ACC with 26 successful stolen bases in 27 attempts. The Irish slapper chipped in a .338 batting average, 53 hits, a .370 on-base percentage and 41 runs scored over 53 starts. Simon also contributed a .988 fielding percentage as the regular Notre Dame starter at second base, adding a career-high 87 assists.
Reed continued her award haul during a sensational freshman season that included all-ACC second team recognition on May 7. Reed leads all Notre Dame freshmen with a .342 batting average, 39 hits, 10 doubles, 27 RBI, a .427 on-base percentage and 26 runs scored. She has also successfully stolen three bases in four attempts and logged 11 multi-hit games.
Tickets are now available for the NCAA South Bend Regional, one of the 16 NCAA Division I Softball Championship regional round sites that will be hosted by Notre Dame and Melissa Cook Stadium this weekend.
Fans can purchase NCAA South Bend Regional tickets by calling the Murnane Family Ticket Office at (574) 631-7356 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. (ET) on business days. Tickets are also available by visiting UND.com/buytickets. All of the latest ticket information can be found by following @NDTix and @GoIrish on Twitter.
Important information on the NCAA South Bend Regional, including links to participating team websites, schedules, rosters, live stats and more, is available on the 2015 Notre Dame Regional Central page, which can be found under the dropdown `Schedule’ tab of the softball homepage at UND.com.
For the latest news and updates on all things Notre Dame softball, visit www.und.com/softball, follow the Irish @NDsoftball and @NDcoachGumpf on Twitter and at Instagram.com/notredamesoftball, and Like the team at Facebook.com/NDSoftball.
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