University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass Softball Lands Five On All-Region Team
May 20, 2010 | Softball
May 20, 2010
AMHERST, Mass. - The National Fastpitch Coaches Association has announced the 2010 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-Region teams, honoring student-athletes from the 10 NFCA regions. Five UMass players were named to the All-Northeast squad, with Katie Bettencourt, Meghan Carta, Carly Normandin, and Sara Plourde earning first team honors and Sarah Reeves earning second team honors.
Five honorees is tied for the second-most All-Region performers UMass has ever had (1982, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2007). The most UMass ever had were six in 2006. Last season, four Minutewomen were honored with two, Normandin and Brandice Balschmiter, going on to be named NFCA All-Americans.
This is the third-straight year Normandin has been named All-Region. The 2009 A-10 Player of the Year and third team All-American was also named A-10 All-Conference first team for the third year in a row. The Gardner, Mass. native is batting .405 on the season, tops on the club and in the conference, with 34 runs scored and a .473 on-base percentage.
Bettencourt earns first team honors after an incredible sophomore campaign in which she was named A-10 Co-Player of the Year in addition to All-Conference. She is batting .340 on the season, including .500 in A-10 play, with 11 doubles, seven home runs, and 30 RBIs.
Carta, like Bettencourt a first-year starter, has had an amazing junior season for the Minutewomen, hitting 13 home runs, tied for the team-lead, and driving in 43 runs, tops on the club. She is batting .299 and slugging .672, while starting at catcher in all 51 games for the Minutewomen. Carta was named first team All-Conference.
Plourde took over the reigns of the UMass pitching staff in 2010 and immediately established herself as one of the nation's top pitchers. The A-10 Pitcher of the Year, she leads the NCAA in strikeouts with 545, the ninth-highest total in NCAA history, and in wins with 40. She is 40-6 on the season with a 1.19 ERA, 17 shutouts, and five no-hitters.
Reeves, in her third season as the fulltime starter at first base, has had another impressive season, batting .356 with 13 home runs and 41 RBIs. First team All-Conference for the third-straight year, she took her game to another level late in the season, batting .491 with nine home runs and 20 RBIs over the last 20 games and was named A-10 Championship Most Outstanding Player.
After winning their sixth-straight and 22nd overall Atlantic 10 Championship last weekend, the Minutewomen are hosting an NCAA Tournament Regional in Amherst this weekend. UMass is hosting No. 13 overall seed Arizona State, Long Island, and Boston University with opening round games taking place on Friday at 5 p.m. (ASU vs. BU) and 7:30 p.m. (UMass vs. LIU).
