Wednesday, May 22, 2024

PORTLAND, Ore. – Four softball players from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference garnered All-American recognition for the 2024 season, as the National Fastpitch Coaches Association and the Division II Conference Commissioners Association unveiled their award winners this week.

Northwest Nazarene senior pitcher/designated player Sidney Booth appeared on the All-America list for both organizations, earning NFCA second-team honors and D2CCA third-team honors. Teagan Seeton of Montana State Billings was an NFCA third-team recipient, while Hailey Rath and Kaiana Kong of Western Washington each garnered D2CCA honorable mention accolades.

The NFCA All-America teams were selected by the Division II coaches, while the D2CCA All-America teams were selected by voting members of Division II softball media.

Completing one of the greatest careers in GNAC history this spring, Booth was the GNAC’s all-time leader in strikeouts with 802, while ranking second in shutouts with 33, third in career wins with 80, third in starts with 113, third in complete games with 85, third in innings pitched with 756 2/3, fourth in opponents’ batting average at .202, fourth in appearances with 133, and eighth in career ERA at 1.74.

Booth became the first player in GNAC history to earn GNAC Pitcher of the Year honors three times, after leading the conference in strikeouts (199), innings pitched (194), opponents batting average (.185) and wins (25), and ranking second in ERA at 1.26. In addition to her pitching prowess, Booth was a career .321 hitter with 206 hits, 26 home runs and the sixth-most RBIs in GNAC history with 165. This is the second All-American recognition for Booth, who was a second-team NFCA pick and third-team D2CCA pick during her second year at NNU in 2021. Booth was also recognized as the D2CCA West Region Pitcher of the Year, and earned first-team all-region from both the D2CCA and NFCA.

Emerging as one of the leading power hitters in Division II, Seeton broke the MSUB single-season home run record and finished second in the GNAC with 16 long balls. Seeton led the conference with a slugging percentage of .720, while reaching base at a clip of .424 and batting .353 to rank fourth in the league. Seeton’s 37 RBIs also tied her for fourth in the conference. The Yellowjacket junior earned first-team all-region recognition from both the D2CCA and the NFCA.

The 2024 campaign is not over for Rath and Kong, who helped the Vikings reach the NCAA Softball World Series finals beginning on Friday in Longwood, Fla. Rath was named the GNAC Player of the Year, and is hitting .343 with eight home runs and a GNAC-second best 52 RBIs. Rath’s 73 hits and 16 doubles are second most in the conference, and she has crossed the plate 38 times in her sophomore season. Rath was the D2CCA first-team all-region shortstop, and garnered second-team all-region recognition from the NFCA.

The NCAA Division II leader in saves with 11, Kong has put forth a heroic effort during the Vikings’ postseason run to the NCAA Championships finals. The freshman leads the GNAC with a 1.22 ERA, while holding the opposition to a batting average of .191 across a conference-leading 44 appearances. Kong was picked by the media as a first-team D2CCA all-region pitcher as well.

In addition to the conference’s four All-Americans, five other players from Western Washington and Northwest Nazarene garnered all-region recognition.

WWU freshman right-hander Alli Kimball earned second-team all-region from both the D2CCA and the NFCA, after posting the third-best ERA in the GNAC at 1.28 and ranking second in the conference in both innings pitched (164 1/3) and wins (24). Like Kong, Kimball has been instrumental in the Vikings’ 12-3 postseason record and she pitched 13 total innings in WWU’s two wins over No. 2 UIndy on Wednesday to put her team in the finals.

Fellow Vikings Maleah Andrews and Emma Andrewjeski-Ramirez each also appeared on the all-region second teams for both the NFCA and the D2CCA. Andrewjeski-Ramirez leads the GNAC with a program-record 18 home runs as well as 56 RBIs this spring. Andrews meanwhile leads the conference in runs scored (57), hits (74), doubles (18) and triples (4), while posting a slash line of .365/.467/.611.

Nighthawk senior second baseman Emma Mulligan was recognized on both the D2CCA and NFCA all-region second teams, after capping her career by landing NNU its fourth straight GNAC regular-season title. Mulligan batted .339 with six home runs and 30 RBIs, and ranked third in the GNAC with 61 hits. Fellow NNU senior Gina Skinner was a D2CCA second-team all-region selection, after being a key contributor to the Nighthawks’ pitching rotation in 2024. Skinner ranked fourth in the GNAC with a 1.65 ERA, while racking up 14 wins, holding the opposition to a batting average of .233 and totaling 114 1/3 innings pitched.