Wednesday, May 09, 2007

MACON, Ga. (May 9, 2007) - The Atlantic Sun Conference announced its 2007 postseason softball award winners Wednesday, and four Bucs were represented as Stephanie Gaynord (Manassas, Va.), Amanda Haverman (Kirkwood, Mo.), Cheniece Cason (Moreno Valley, Calif.) and Katy Jett (Talbot, Tenn.) all received conference honors.

Gaynord, the team leader for the Bucs, was one of two ETSU players to be named First-Team All-Atlantic Sun. The Manassas, Va. native has been the face of ETSU softball for the past four years as she has played in 213 of the 220 games since her freshman season, including 209 starts. Gaynord ranks third in the conference in runs scored (44), tied for third in triples (4) and 10^th in slugging percentage (.599), while leads or is tied for the team lead in home runs (7), doubles (10), walks (17), on-base percentage (.392), slugging percentage and runs scored. The senior slugger was the best hitter in league games, hitting .522 with seven home runs and 16 RBI in 15 contests, and won A-Sun Player of the Week honors on April 9 after hitting .833 with four home runs and seven RBI. Gaynord graduated from ETSU this past weekend, obtaining her degree in Business, with an emphasis in Marketing.

Joining Gaynord on the First-Team all-conference list was junior Amanda Haverman after she posted her best season of her career as the Bucs designated player. Haverman played in all 52 games (51 starts), and set single-season bests in home runs (6), RBI (36), doubles (10), batting average (.311), runs scored (20), hits (46) and walks (14). She leads the team in RBI and posted a Buc-best nine multi-RBI games during the season. It marks the first time Gaynord and Haverman have been selected to the conference's first-team.

A pair of Softball Bucs was named to the Atlantic Sun All-Freshman Team as Katy Jett and Cheniece Cason received the honors, while Jett also received Second Team All-Atlantic Sun accolades. The 5'3" Talbot, Tenn. native provided the Bucs with a lot of pop in her bat as she belted five home runs, including two off of the nation's top pitcher, Tennessee's Monica Abbott. Jett enjoyed her first-ever game at Metro-Kiwanis Park as she blasted the game-winning home run off Valparaiso's Andrea Zappia in game one of the doubleheader on March 13. She started in all 52 games for the Bucs and leads the team in hits (52) and at-bats (167), ranks second in runs scored (38) and third in doubles (8), home runs and RBI (31). Jett also posted 16 multi-hit games, which marks a team high.

Cason, one of the team's best hitters in league games, posted a .348 average (16-46) with a double, triple and 10 runs scored in 18 conference games. She played in 51 games (48 starts) with most of her action coming in the outfield, where she used her blazing speed to cover a lot ground; however, she filled in with eight starts at short when Gaynord went down with a knee injury late in the season. Cason posted 10 multi-hit games and drove in three RBI, in game two against Lipscomb, marking her first collegiate multi-RBI game.

Kennesaw State took three of the top four honors as Keri McKee was named Player of the Year, teammate Brittany Matthews was named Pitcher of the Year, and Scott Whitlock was voted Coach of the Year by his peers for the second straight season after leading the Owls to their first A-Sun title. Devyn Findley (North Florida) was named Freshman of the Year.

The Bucs and Lady Bisons will kick off the 2007 A-Sun Tournament presented by Coca-Cola Thursday morning at 9 a.m. at Patricia Wilson Field, located on the campus of Stetson University. ETSU has won all four meetings in the series by a combined score of 36-3, including a pair of blowouts this season, 12-0 and 13-1. Please visit www.atlanticsun.org for more information regarding the conference tournament or ETSUBucs.com for updated news and stats.