CLERMONT, Fla. – The Sun Conference postseason awards were dished out as a part of the annual Softball Awards banquet. The banquet was held at beautiful Lilly's on the Lake in downtown Clermont as the beginning festivities of The Sun Conference Championship Tournament.

Warner University Softball was honored with several postseason awards. Named to the All-Conference team as selected and voted upon by coaches from The Sun Conference was Sara Bruno, Chantal Crockett and Sylvia Welsh. Sara Bruno who just received the last NAIA Softball Player of the Week honors, was named The Sun Conference Player of the Year.

Chantal Crockett, known to her coaches and teammates as China Crockett, received the All-Conference award for her role as the Royals everyday shortstop. Crockett posted a regular season .352 batting average with 50 hits in 142 opportunities. Making a switch late in the year to the leadoff spot in the lineup, she led the team in stolen bases with 17 out of 19 bags taken. In 45 games started and played, Crockett scored 36 times and even at the top of the lineup found a way to punch 16 RBI's across the plate all while only striking out 11 times.

Sylvia Welsh was a stone cold stunner on the mound earning her team 17 victories on the season. Posting a 1.74 ERA and throwing 16 complete games in her 24 appearances, Welsh led the team with 148.2 innings pitched while striking out 78 batters and holding opponents to an outstanding .230 batting average. Welsh also made a good run at The Sun Conference Freshman of the Year, though she did not receive the award, she threw 7 total shutouts and featured wins against NAIA No. 1  Georgia Gwinnett, NAIA No. 10 Thomas University, NAIA No. 21 Southeastern University, NCAA D-II Southwest Minnesota State University and only surrendered 1 hit in her outing against NCAA D-II Tampa University. Out of 148.2 innings, the Freshman only allowed 37 earned runs.

Sara Bruno was named as the NAIA Softball Player of the Week yesterday as she finished the week with 10 RBI's and 3 homeruns including a walk-off base hit RBI up the middle against Webber International. She was named to The Sun Conference All-Conference team and took the honor of The Sun Conference Player of the Year. Bruno finished out the season with a .427 batting average while driving in 56 RBI's, 13 homeruns and only striking out 5 times. Quoting the Lake Ledgers sports reporter Brady Frederickson, "The 2018 Sun Conference Player of the Year has now emerged as one of the best power hitters in the NAIA and Warner now has a chance to return to the NAIA postseason stage."

The Royals everyday left fielder Megan Hammett was named to The Sun Conference All-Academic team. 35 student-athletes were named to the All-Academic Team by maintaining at least a 3.5 GPA after at least two full semesters at their current institutions.

The Warner University Royals finished the regular season for The Sun Conference in 3^rd place with an overall record of 34-13, which is the second most wins in Warner Softball history, and a TSC record of 17-7. They are named the #3 seed in The Sun Conference Tournament Championship and will face off against the #6 seed Keiser University Seahawks tomorrow May 3^rd at 1:30 p.m. To catch all of the Tournament live stats head to http://www.dakstats.com/WebSync/Pages/Tournament/TournamentPage.aspx?association=10&sg=WBA&tour=2491 … and to watch live please visit https://portal.stretchinternet.com/thesun/

The 2018 Sun Conference awards were as follows…
All-Conference First Team
Catcher – Sara Bruno, Warner
Catcher – Kelsey Connolly, Thomas
DP – Breanna Wells, Coastal Georgia
IF – Chantal Crockett, Warner
IF – Sam Holcomb, Southeastern
IF – Avery Miller, Keiser
IF – AJ Weiss, Thomas
IF – Genevieve Twigg, Ave Maria
OF – Haleigh Harrell, Southeastern
OF – Kelsey Brodbeck, Keiser
OF – Kalie Romig, Ave Maria
OF – Kayla Boyle, USCB
Pitcher – Lauren West, Thomas
Pitcher – Hannah Bodenhorn, Southeastern
Pitcher – Sylvia Welsh, Warner
UTL – Paige Alt, Coastal Georgia
At Large – Brandee Pietrzak, Catcher, Southeastern
At Large – Gaby Mora, OF, Thomas
At Large – Kaitlyn Stoltz, IF, Thomas
At Large – Abby Pac, P, USCB
 
Player of the Year – Sara Bruno, Warner
Pitcher of the Year – Lauren West, Thomas
Freshman of the Year – Haleigh Harrell, Southeastern
Coach of the Year – Bill Wilson, Thomas
Champions of Character – Michelle Murch, St. Thomas
 
Honorable Mention
Kiah Ferrell, UTL, Southeastern
Victoria Camina, IF, Thomas
Alexa Moore, IF, USCB
Kylie Kellie, IF, USCB
Heather Faulk, OF, Southeastern
Ashley Appell, P, Southeastern
Izzy Ekstam, UTL, Thomas
Rachel Frankhouser, OF, USCB
Taylor Boykin, OF, USCB
Meghan Lindell, DP, Webber International
 
 
All-Academic
Deanna Stirtzinger, Ave Maria
Brooke Pierron, Ave Maria
Michella Davis, Ave Maria
Destinee Elmore, Ave Maria
Cassidy Roberts, Webber International
Laura Borders, Webber International
Avery Miller, Keiser
Troiana Test, Keiser
Kelsie Thurman, Keiser
Heather Faulk, Southeastern
Kiah Ferrell, Southeastern
Sam Holcomb, Southeastern
Paige Alt, Coastal Georgia
Morgan Cobb, Coastal Georgia
Katie McGinnis, Coastal Georgia
Kensey Solomon, Coastal Georgia
Brandi Bunker, St. Thomas
Alexis Castroman, St. Thomas
Alysha Coyle, St. Thomas
Michelle Murch, St. Thomas
Dayma Pla, St. Thomas
GiGi Santos, St. Thomas
Emily Santos, St. Thomas
Kelsey Connolly, Thomas
Whitney Cooper, Thomas
Kathryn Lopes, Thomas
Gabriela Mora, Thomas
Alaynah Weiss, Thomas
Taylor Boykin, USCB
Kayla Boyle, USCB
Abby Pac, USCB
Rachel Catt, USCB
Haley Hawkins, USCB
Kaitlyn O'Hearn, USCB
Megan Hammett, Warner