Twenty-five players in mix for inaugural Schutt Sports/NFCA Division III Player of Year

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Twenty-five outstanding softball players have been chosen for the next step toward the inaugural NFCA/Schutt Sports Division III National Player of the Year award, which started at 50 and will continue to be paired down until just one player remains at the conclusion of the 2016 season.

No. 2-ranked Salisbury University leads the way on the new list, with three players — seniors Kim Dorsey, Paige Knussman and Molly Simpson — selected, while top-ranked Texas-Tyler, No. 3 Virginia Wesleyan and No. 14 Rowan all have two players in the running. Sixteen other teams have one player each.

Seniors Kelsie Batten and Raven Rodriguez represent Texas-Tyler, while fellow seniors Beth Ann Hyland and Shilah Snead play for Rowan. Yet another senior, Courtney Bogan, has been joined on the list by Virginia Wesleyan teammate, Cassetty Howerin, a sophomore.

There are 14 seniors, four juniors, five sophomores and two freshmen in the current group. The finalists have combined for a .464 average, 306 extra-base hits and 560 RBI so far this season. The pitchers, meanwhile, have teamed to compile an 176-29 record (.859 win percentage), 49 shutouts, 112 complete games and 1,553 strikeouts in 1,211.1 innings.

The list is a collaborative effort between the NFCA’s Division III Head Coaches and All-America committees. The original list of 50 players contained 26 returning NFCA All-Americans, including four first-team honorees, nine second-team selections and 13 from last year’s third team. The remaining 24 members of the first group all earned first team NFCA All-Region recognition last season.

Thirteen players from the initial list made the cut to 25, while the remaining 12 players are newcomers.

The next list in two weeks will narrow the field to 10, and, after that, three finalists will be chosen. The winner will be announced following the completion of the NCAA Division III Tournament in May.

Schutt Sports and the NFCA are also presenting a Division III National Freshman of the Year award for the first time this season.

FIRST	LAST	SCHOOL	POS	YR
KELSIE	BATTEN	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS-TYLER	UTIL	SENIOR
COURTNEY	BOGAN	VIRGINIA WESLEYAN COLLEGE	OF	SENIOR
SAMMY	BOST	LEBANON VALLEY COLLEGE	OF	JUNIOR
AJ	CARRASCO	UNIVERSITY OF REDLANDS	OF	SENIOR
KIM	DORSEY	SALISBURY UNIVERSITY	INF	SENIOR
BRITTANY	FILE	EMORY UNIVERSITY	P	JUNIOR
CARRIE	FIX	MESSIAH COLLEGE	UTIL	SOPHOMORE
KASSIE	HOWARD	BERRY COLLEGE	P	SOPHOMORE
CASSETTY	HOWERIN	VIRGINIA WESLEYAN COLLEGE	1B	SOPHOMORE
BETH ANN	HYLAND	ROWAN UNIVERSITY	P	SENIOR
PAIGE	KNUSSMAN	SALISBURY UNIVERSITY	C	SENIOR
MELISSA	LIVERMORE	TEXAS-DALLAS	OF	FRESHMAN
JESSICA	LONG	AVERETT UNIVERSITY	INF/OF	JUNIOR
ALEXANDRA	MARSHALL	MASSACHUSETTS INST. OF TECH	P	SENIOR
MELANIE	OORD	LINFIELD	UTIL	SOPHOMORE
ANNIE	PITKIN	WASHINGTON (MO.) UNIVERSITY	P	SENIOR
CAROLINE	RICE	BOWDOIN	OF/1B	FRESHMAN
RACHEL	ROBERTS	PACIFIC (ORE.) UNIVERSITY	INF	SENIOR
TARA	ROBINSON	CLAREMONT-MUDD-SCRIPPS	INF/OF	SENIOR
RAVEN	RODRIGUEZ	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS-TYLER	INF	SENIOR
SCOOP	SIMON	CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT UNIVERSITY	OF	SENIOR
MOLLY	SIMPSON	SALIBURY UNIVERSITY	INF	SENIOR
SHILAH	SNEAD	ROWAN UNIVERSITY	INF	SENIOR
MORGAN	STRATTON	ALMA COLLEGE	P	JUNIOR
LINDSEY	THAYER	ST. JOHN FISHER	P	SOPHOMORE