The Westminster softball team had a record-setting eight student-athletes receive St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) awards on Thursday, May 5, after the first SLIAC Tournament game. Also announced at the award ceremony was junior Erica Burney as the 2016 SLIAC Player of the Year.
The Blue Jay's record-setting all-conference list features seven players at eight spots. The First Team All-Conference winners are Burney at first base and senior Shannon Perrigo as a utility. Second Team All-Conference winners include pitcher Shannon Perrigo, junior pitcher Alyson Hahn, and sophomore left fielder Amber Tepen. The final three award winners on the All-Conference Third Team are: junior third baseman Anne Baker, sophomore center fielder Leah Holthaus and junior catcher Alyssa Johnson.
Burney, a junior first baseman from St. Genevieve, Mo., is the first SLIAC Player of the Year in program history. She was also named to the SLIAC All-Conference First Team. She held a .591 batting average in the 18 conference games with a .939 slugging percentage and 13 extra base hits. She broke the season home run, RBI and hitting records and tied the career home run record (10), and leads the conference in home runs. She finished conference play with 39 hits, eight doubles and five home runs while batting in 31 runs and scoring 20. In the field, she recorded 105 putouts with a .982 fielding percentage.
Perrigo, a senior pitcher and designated hitter from Tebbetts, Mo., earned All-Conference First Team for utility and Second Team for pitching. She held a 6-2 pitching record with a 3.33 earned run average and seven complete games. She pitched 48.1 innings with 38 strikeouts and recorded one shutout. At the plate, she batted .418 with 23 hits and four home runs.
Hahn, a senior pitcher from O'Fallon, Mo., held a 7-3 record in conference to earn her a spot on the All-Conference Second Team. She held a 5.22 earned run average with nine complete games. She pitched 64.1 innings in conference with 59 strikeouts.
Tepen, a sophomore left fielder from St. Charles, Mo., started in all 18 conference games and batted .463 with 25 hits, eight doubles and four home runs. She finished with a .833 slugging percentage, 23 runs scored and 26 runs batted in. In the outfield, she grabbed 21 putouts.
Baker, a junior third baseman from Mexico, Mo., started in all 18 conference games and batted .410 with 25 hits. She finished with 13 RBI and successfully stole seven of eight bases.
Holthaus, a sophomore center fielder from Cottonwood, Idaho, started in 16 conference games and batted .373 on the season. She posted 22 hits with 20 runs scored and seven RBI. In center field, she grabbed 29 putouts.
Johnson, a junior catcher from Midlothian, Ill., started all 18 conference games and ranked second on the team with a .473 batting average. She grabbed 26 hits with five doubles and four home runs while holding a .782 slugging percentage. She batted in 16 runners while scoring 16 runs. On defense, she held a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage with 94 putouts at the plate and eight assists.
Junior Kat Cooper was the member from the Blue Jay squad named to the SLIAC All-Sportsmanship Team. One individual from each school is selected by the coach and players to be on the team.
