Monday, May 15, 2017

PORTLAND, Ore. – The GNAC Player of the Year has added a regional honor to her mantle as Central Washington senior Kailyn Campbell has been selected as the D2CCA Softball West Region Player of the Year, leading 11 GNAC selections to the organization’s All-West Region Team.

Campbell helped lead the Wildcats to their second straight GNAC regular season title as CWU finished 2017 with a 34-15 overall record. She becomes the second CWU player and the second GNAC player to be named the D2CCA West Region Player of the Year. Central Washington’s Samantha Petrich was the first in 2011. Last week, Campbell was also named to the NFCA’s All-West Region First Team.

Campbell finished the year with a .497 batting average, which led the West Region and is fourth among Division II players. She is ranked second nationally with 26 doubles and 0.53 doubles per game and finished sixth nationally with 86 hits and a .873 slugging percentage. Campbell also set the GNAC career record with 197 runs batted in.

Joining Campbell as a first team selection from the GNAC is Western Washington freshman pitcher Anna Kasner, Western Oregon senior shortstop Kelsie Gardner, Concordia senior outfielder Meghan Luebbert and Montana State Billings junior Megan Dettling, who was selected as a designated player. Campbell, Gardner and Luebbert were also NFCA All-West Region First Team selections.

Six GNAC players were named to the D2CCA Second Team: Central Washington senior pitcher Kiana Wood, Northwest Nazarene freshman catcher Brittany Genuardi, Western Oregon senior third baseman Destiny Kuehl, Montana State Billings junior outfielder Heather Tracy, Saint Martin’s senior outfielder Mary Dettling and Western Washington senior Shearyna Labasan, who was selected as a pitching utility player.

The five first team selections will move for consideration for the D2CCA Division II All-America Team. The squad, nominated by and selected by Division II sports information directors, will be announced on Wed., May 24.

Kasner established herself as one of the top pitchers in the West Region, earning both GNAC Co-Pitcher of the Year and Co-Freshman of the Year honors. She finished the year with a 16-6 record and a 2.29 earned run average in 27 games and 143.2 innings pitched. Her totals included 188 strikeouts, which ranks 21st in Division II, with her 9.1 strikeouts per seven innings ranking eighth. Kasner was named the Most Outstanding Player of the GNAC Championships after she won all three games for the Vikings in tournament.

Luebbert earned First Team All-GNAC distinction for the second consecutive season. She led the Cavaliers with a .453 batting average, 67 hits, 51 runs sand 13 stolen bases. Luebbert recorded 20 multiple-hit games and had both a 13-game hitting streak and a 24-game streak of reaching base safely. Earlier this month, Luebbert was selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 Softball Team.

Gardner became Western Oregon’s first NFCA All-West Region selection since 2013 and is a two-time First Team All-GNAC selection. She led the Wolves with a .417 batting average, .457 on-base percentage, 53 runs and 75 hits while finishing second in the league with 24 stolen bases. Gardner finished the season ranked 33rd in Division II in hits and 34th with 1.04 runs per game.

Dettling finished the season with a .364 batting average with 10 home runs, 40 RBIs and a .651 slugging percentage. She also had five doubles, one triple and scored 28 runs with a .400 on-base percentage. The junior tied the GNAC with three home runs in a single game against UC Colorado Springs on Feb. 8.