Softball all-district team dominated by Honeyees

Flash Staff Report
TheFlashToday.com

STEPHENVILLE (May 16, 2017) — Stephenville won the District 8-4A softball championship, and outside one loss to runner-up Godley, the Honeybees did it in mostly dominating fashion.

It only makes sense, then, that the league’s head coaches would see to it Stephenville also dominated the all-district roster, and that they did.

With four 8-4A all-district special awards, four first-team selections, a pair of second-team picks and three on the honorable-mention list, there are 12 Stephenville players and their coach who learned they received honors when the list was allowed to be released following the elimination of the district’s remaining playoff teams over the weekend.

Junior hurler Julia Flores and senior third baseman Nadine Arredondo were a lock for pitcher of he year and offensive player of the year, respectively, and coaches also named Honeybee senior and Tarleton State softball signee Sami Shaffer the league’s catcher of the year.

Rus Mayes joins his big guns in the special awards as 8-4A Coach of the Year after guiding the Honeybees to back-to-back outright district championships, the first two in program history. They went on to set the program records for wins (26), home runs (30) and runs scored (313).

Flores worked 148.2 innings on the year and only 40 of 57 total runs against here were earned. She boasted an earned run average of .188 while racking up just shy of 200 strikeouts (198). Her hitting did a lot of favors for her pitching, as Flores finished with a .463 batting average, six home runs and 46 runs batted in. Arredondo earned the top offensive award with a school-record 12 home runs and 53 RBI while hitting .517. Shaffer missed the last couple district contests and all of the playoffs after hitting .508 with four homers, 19 RBI and a team-high six triples. Arredondo and Shaffer were the only seniors on the roster.

First-team selections from Stephenville include centerfielder Morgan DiCiccio, the roaming Jessica Howell who played outfield and designated hitter before being forced into action at catcher following the injury to Shaffer,  sophomore shortstop Madison Gilder and junior first baseman Sam Luna. DiCiccio hit .396 and scored a team-high 48 runs while Howell belted six homers, drove in 29 runs and hit .346. Gilder, who hit behind DiCiccio to comprise the top of the vaunted Honeybee lineup, hit .376 while driving in 20 runs and scoring 42.

Second-team selections included Honeybees Bianka Garcia in the outfield and Kennedy Richards at second base. Jessic Ebeling, Bo Van Der Gragt and Kristen Pettit are listed as honorable-mention picks.