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For Immediate Release
Sept. 30, 2010
Four Red Devils Earn NFCA Academic Honors
STARKVILLE, Miss. – A group of four Eureka College softball players have been selected as 2009-10 girls got game Division III Scholar Athletes by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, according to an announcement from the organization on Wednesday. Shortstop Carissa Alig (Metamora, Ill./Metamora H.S.), catcher Cathy Kalnicky (Bolingbrook, Ill./Plainfield H.S.), outfielder Heather Skelton (Harvard, Ill./Alden-Hebron H.S.) and first baseman Mary Garbett (Georgetown, Ohio/Western Brown H.S.) received the academic award.
The girls got game Academic Awards program honors both collegiate and high school teams for their submitted GPAs for the 2009-2010 academic year. As a second component of the program, all submitted student-athletes who achieved a 3.50 GPA during last academic year are named as girls got game/NFCA Scholar Athletes. A total of 15 softball players from the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference earned Scholar Athlete awards, while Fontbonne’s team GPA of 3.535 ranked second among all Division III programs.
Alig is one of only two players to have started all 66 games the Red Devils have played since arriving on campus prior to the 2009 season. She hit .231 (25-for-108) last spring as a sophomore, ranking among the top-five on the Red Devils in batting average, runs scored (14), hits, runs batted in (12), doubles (four) and total bases (29). Her glove was solid at the shortstop position and her 81 assists easily led the Red Devils and ranked third among SLIAC players.
Kalnicky finished her 2010 senior season with a .463 average (39-for-82), eight doubles, three homers and a team-high 23 RBI. Her three home runs extended her own Eureka career record to 13, while she finished her four-year career with 103 runs batted in, second-most all-time at Eureka. Her eight doubles in 2010 bumped her career total to 35, also ranking second all-time at Eureka. She earned All-Midwest Region Second Team honors from the NFCA and All-SLIAC Honorable Mention accolades last May.
Skelton appeared in 20 of Eureka’s 34 games last season, earning 17 starting assignments as an outfielder and designated player. She reached base safely in 12 of those 17 starts and contributed with a 4-for-8 performance with a double and an RBI in Eureka’s doubleheader sweep of fellow SLIAC Tournament participant Greenville on April 14.
Garbett joined Kalnicky as four-year players on the 2010 roster. The senior made 15 starts for the Red Devils, sharing playing time at first base. She made only two errors in 94 defensive chances and her .979 fielding percentage ranked second among Eureka starters behind only Kalnicky (.988).
Alig and the Red Devils will open the 2011 season on March 5 with a doubleheader at Knox in Galesburg, Ill. In addition to nine returning letterwinners, second-year head coach Stacy Sparks plans to welcome an 11-player recruiting class for the 2011 season.
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For More Information Contact:
Bryan Moore
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