Ohio Softball Announces 2000 Team Awards
Kelli Bankert Named Team MVP
ATHENS, Ohio (June 3, 2000) -- Ohio softball head coach Roanna Brazier
recently announced the 2000 team awards.
Tabbed as the team's Most Valuable Player and Best Offensive
Player finishes off an impressive season for freshman Kelli Bankert
(Clifton, Va.). Bankert was named the Mid-American Conference Freshman
of the Year after finishing the season with a team-leading .361 batting
average, which included 16 doubles, 24 runs batted in and two home
runs. She led the conference and was ranked fourth in the nation with
her 0.38 doubles per game, and was just five away from setting new Ohio
and MAC records. Besides her MAC Freshman of the Year nod, Bankert was
also named to the MAC Pepsi All-MAC First-Team.
Sophomore Tiffany Bolton (Fairfax, Va.) was named the team's
Best Defensive Player. Bolton, a shortstop/second-baseman, posted a
stellar .950 fielding percentage. She was also effective offensively as
she was second on the team behind Bankert with a batting average of
..275. Bolton had 38 hits in 45 games this season with 20 runs, five
doubles, one home run and 14 runs batted in.
Junior Stephanie Stapleton (Columbus) was awarded the Amy
DeShay Award, which was named in honor of the Ohio player who died in
1995 in a traffic accident. The award, which was formerly known as the
Bobcat award, is given to the player who is the epitome of a team
player.
Other award winners included freshman Randi Rico (Mentor), who
named the team's Most Improved Player. Senior Jen Sewell (Tulsa, Okla.)
and junior Sara Kraus (Tulsa, Okla.) were given Scholar-Athlete Awards
for their academic dedication off the field. Sewell was also awarded an
Alumni Scholar-Athlete Award, which was given at the 38th Annual Green
and White Senior Banquet on Monday, May 22.
