Six WAC Softball Players Named NFCA All-Region
Six WAC softball players earned National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region honors. NM State’s Kelsey Horton and Seattle U’s Madison Cathcart earned first team honors, GCU’s Niki Gonzalez and Sierra Smith earned second team honors and the Lopes’ Brianna Aguilar-Beaucage Utah Valley’s Makayla Shadle were named to the third team.
Cathcart, a first team All-WAC selection, led the league in batting average (.444), slugging percentage (.954), on base percentage (.596) and doubles (20). She is a two-time WAC Hitter of the Week this season.
Horton, the 2018 WAC Player of the Year and Tournament MVP, led the Aggies to both the WAC regular-season and tournament titles. She heads into the NCAA Regionals hitting .402 with an NCAA-best 25 home runs, 11 doubles and 64 RBIs.
Gonzalez, a second team All-WAC honoree, hit .363 for the Lopes with 18 doubles and 13 home runs. She was named WAC Hitter of the Week once this season.
Smith led GCU with a .392 average to go along with 17 doubles, five triples and six home runs. She was named WAC Hitter of the Week one time this season.
Aguilar-Beaucage, a second team All-WAC selection, posted a 3.62 ERA over 168.1 innings with 78 strikeouts for the Lopes. She was a three-time WAC Pitcher of the Week this season.
Shadle, the WAC Pitcher of the Year, led the WAC in ERA (1.26) in WAC play, allowing just eight earned runs over 44.1 innings pitched. Overall on the season, she struck out 83 batters.
A total of 389 players representing 164 different institutions comprise this season’s regional teams. The all-region teams were voted on by NFCA member coaches from each respective region.