Link to complete NFCA Release and teams
Louisville, KY – The National Fastpitch Coaches Association is proud to announce the 360 players chosen for the 2014 NFCA Division III All-Region softball teams. This year's squad is comprised of three teams in each of the country's eight NCAA regions.
The teams in the NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll are well represented, with unanimous No. 1 and defending national champion Tufts University tying seven others for the most selections, with the maximum six. Second-ranked Linfield, No. 4 Salisbury, No. 6 East Texas Baptist, seventh-ranked Trine, ninth-ranked Virginia Wesleyan, No. 13 St. Thomas (Minn.) and unranked SUNY Cortland also had six players chosen. Nine other schools garnered five selections apiece.
Additionally, Linfield, Salisbury and St. Thomas all placed four of those six players on the first team in their respective region.
The All-Region teams are nominated and selected by NFCA member coaches in each of the eight Division III regions. First team All-Region choices are eligible for selection to the NFCA All-America team, which will be revealed on May 21 at the NCAA Division III Softball Championship banquet in Tyler, Texas.
For The Sage Colleges' softball team among the players named by the NFCA was senior short stop and team co-captain, Hillary Faas (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia). Faas was named to the Atlantic Region Second Team, becoming the first Sage player honored by the association. Among the numerous honors Faas amassed this season was earning the 2014 Skyline Conference Softball Player of the Year, while also repeating as a member of the Skyline Conference All-Star First Team after earning the same award in 2013.
Head softball coach Jamie Brown said of Faas, "Hillary was remarkable this season!" Brown added, "She was a leader on and off the field. She was one of our best defenders and she was our best hitter at the plate. We would not have had the season we had without her in our lineup."
Over the course of her senior season, she batted .465 with a team-leading 45 RBI's, six home runs, 20 extra-base hits and a .729 slugging percentage. She had a .514 on-base percentage as well in 37 starts at short stop, while boasting a .950 fielding percentage. She drew 14 walks and scored 37 runs in 2014 as the Gators went 23-14 and finished the campaign as the Skyline Conference regular-season champions and took home the Skyline Conference Runner-up Tournament trophy as well as collecting a bid the to the ECAC tournament, the third straight for the program.
Twice named the Skyline Conference Player of the Week, she was also cited as the ECAC Metro Division III Player of the Week as well. She led the Gators in almost every offensive category and penned her name to numerous career marks along the way. She played and started 151 consecutive games, while breaking the career marks for most at-bats (498), most doubles (44), most home runs (20), most hits (193), and most RBI's (130). She stands No. 2 in career runs scored (122), while ranking No. 3 in walks (50), No. 11 in stolen bases (15), and No. 10 in career batting average (.388).
With the release of the latest NCAA statistics for Division III, Faas is ranked No. 20 in RBI's per game (1.25), No. 41 in batting average, No. 79 in slugging percentage, No. 63 in on-base percentage (.525), while also ranking in home runs, home runs per game, doubles per game, and runs scored per game.