Five Spartans Earn A-Sun All-Conference Honors; Childers and Quevedo First Team All-Conference
5/10/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
2011 A-Sun All-Conference Team
Spartanburg, S.C. – After finishing the regular season with a Division I-era school record 41 wins and a 13-7 mark in the A-Sun, five USC Upstate softball players have earned postseason honors from the conference as the A-Sun announced its postseason awards Tuesday.
Three Upstate players were named to the all-conference team with Morgan Childers (Sr., Kings Mountain, N.C.) and Lauren Quevedo (Sr., Wellington, Fla.) earning first team honors, and Kim Brasil (Sr., Mississauga, Ontario) taking home second team honors. Freshmen Hannah Alexander (Lexington, N.C.) and Lindsay Kelly (Jacksonville, Fla.) were named to the all-freshman team.
The five postseason selections are the second-most in Upstate's four years in the A-Sun. In 2008, Upstate had three all-conference and four all-freshman selections.
"I am excited for each player to receive the recognition they have earned and deserved," said Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins. "All five players have played key roles in our season and have contributed greatly to the team and I am proud of their accomplishments.
"At this time in 2008, we learned that Morgan, Lauren and Kim received awards from the conference as freshmen. We knew then that those players would lead us throughout their careers. Their selection to the all-conference team this year is a culmination of four years of hard work, dedication and excellence. I can't put into words how valuable they have been in not only the success of our teams in their four years here at Upstate, but in establishing our program on the Division I level."
With her selection this year, Childers became just the seventh player in conference history to receive four all-conference honors from the A-Sun. She is a three-time first team all-conference pick (2008, 2010 and 2011) and earned second team honors once (2009). She currently leads the league with 28 wins, 355 strikeouts and a .156 opponent batting average. She tossed two no-hitters on the year, increasing her career total to six.
Childers has had a tremendous season. In addition to leading the A-Sun in three categories, she ranks in the top five in the nation in wins, strikeouts and shutouts. She has earned two A-Sun Pitcher of the Week honors. She broke the all-time A-Sun wins record this year and now has 112 career victories, four more than the previous record of 108 held by Nikki Myers (Florida Atlantic), who was also a four-time all-conference selection. Childers also ranks among the A-Sun all-time leaders in strikeouts with 1,318 and shutouts with 42. She trails the all-time strikeouts record by just 58 entering the A-Sun Championship this week. She owns 11 career and 11 single-season records at Upstate.
Childers is one of the most decorated student-athletes to ever play a sport at Upstate. She earned her second Upstate Female Student-Athlete of the Year honor and became the first student-athlete at Upstate to have her jersey retired. She was a semi-finalist for the Lowes Senior CLASS award and was the 14th overall pick in the 2011 NPF Draft by the Akron Racers.
Quevedo earned her second all-conference selection and her first first team pick in the A-Sun. She was a second team selection as a freshman in 2008. She is one of the top power hitters in the conference this season. She ranks second with 44 RBIs and a .671 slugging percentage. She is third with 12 home runs and 94 total bases, and 10th with 11 doubles.
Quevedo owns a career-best .321 batting average entering the A-Sun Championship this week. She has seven multi-hit games and a team-best 12 multi-RBI outings.
Quevedo has also been one of the top defensive players in the conference and has put her name in the Upstate record books. She is the only player at Upstate to have played all four years on the Division I level to reach the top 10 in home runs and RBIs. She ranks second all-time with 32 homers and fourth with 117 RBIs. She also ranks among Upstate's all-time greats in five other statistical categories.
Brasil earned her second all-conference honor of her career with her selection this year. She was a second team pick in 2009. The top offensive player in Upstate's Division I era, she has turned in a strong season this year. She ranks third on the Spartans with a .325 batting average and tops the club with 36 runs and nine stolen bases.
Brasil is one of the top offensive players in the A-Sun. She leads the conference with five triples and ranks in the top 10 in hits (8th) and runs (second).
Brasil has turned one of the top offensive careers in the history of the program and the best during the Division I era. She is the only player at Upstate to have played all four years on the Division I level to reach the top 10 in hits and runs. She currently ranks sixth with 205 hits and 140 runs. She also ranks in the top 10 in seven other statistical categories. She owns 10 Division I school records.
Alexander and Kelly have been welcome additions to the team this season and have played key roles in the success of the team this year.
While having Childers in the circle again in 2011, Upstate has gotten a strong freshman campaign from Alexander on the mound. She currently leads the team and ranks second in the A-Sun with a 1.37 ERA. She is 13-4 on the year with five of those wins coming in A-Sun play. She has seven shutouts on the year, including a three-hitter to close out the regular season last Friday. She has also flirted with perfection this season. She took a perfect game down to the final out and a 1-2 count against North Carolina A&T before giving up a single. She took two other no-hitters to the final out as well.
Alexander ranks among the A-Sun leaders in six statistical categories. She ranks second in ERA, fourth in shutouts (7), eighth in wins (13), ninth in starts (22) and opponent batting average (.229), and 10th in strikeouts (105).
Kelly made a mark for herself during A-Sun play. Her .385 batting average in against conference competition is the fifth-highest in the conference. Overall, she has hit .298 during her freshman campaign.
Kelly took over the everyday starting spot in right field shortly after starting conference play and has flourished in the lineup. She ranks third on the team with six stolen bases and has not committed an error this season.
Kelly posted a team-best eight game hitting streak in A-Sun play. In addition to topping Upstate with a .385 batting average against league foes, she also drew a team-high nine walks for a .510 on-base percentage. She was third on the team with seven runs during A-Sun play.
"Hannah has done a great job of learning how to pitch well on the college level," said Hawkins. "She is a strong pitcher and will be for another three seasons. I can't tell you how great it was to have someone be able to take some pressure off of Morgan this year. I look forward to seeing what she can do the rest of the season and in her leading us in the circle in the future.
"Lindsay really came on during the second half of the season and was one of the catalysts for our team's success in the conference. She led us during conference play and really made our team better when we needed someone to step in and give us energy. I am excited for her to receive some recognition for what she has meant to our team."
Upstate enters the A-Sun Championship as the No. 3 seed. The Spartans are hosting this year's tournament at Cyrill Stadium. The championship gets underway Wednesday when No. 4 Campbell takes on No. 5 Mercer at 2:00 p.m. Upstate will open play Wednesday afternoon at 4:30 against longtime rival and No. 6 seed Kennesaw State.
