Nine Bears Named NFCA All-American Scholar Athletes
11/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
MACON, Ga. – Nine Mercer University softball players were recently named All-American Scholar Athletes as announced by head coach Mike Raynor and the National Fastpitch Coaches Association on Tuesday.
The nine Bears include seniors Amanda Santa Maria, Allison Jones, Anna Johnson and Natalie Jones, redshirt sophomore Jesse Holmes, junior Jenny Goodman and sophomores Molly Anderson, Sarah Santana and Kelly Redlinger.
The NFCA recognizes Division I athletes from all across the country as All-American Scholar Athletes for players who achieve a grade point average of at least a 3.5 for the previous school year.
“We work hard to accomplish these kinds of academic accolades,” Raynor said. “At the same time, we demand similar results on the field and we are very proud of what these student-athletes have accomplished.”
This is Natalie Jones' and Goodman's second straight honor from the NFCA and the second straight time the Bears have had at least nine players on the list. All nine are members of the 2008-09 A-Sun All Academic team.
Goodman is majoring in engineering and showed her talents not only in the classroom but on the field as well. Last season, in her sophomore campaign, she started 44-of-50 games that she appeared in and batted .237 with three RBI.
Natalie Jones recorded a 1-3 overall record, pitching 25.2 innings with 20 strikeouts this past spring.
Allison Jones had seven RBI in 69 plate appearances last season and was also a member of the A-Sun All-Academic team.
Santa Maria, a two-year starter at second base, recorded nine RBI on 22 hits last season. This is the first NFCA distinction for the California native.
Johnson led the team in stolen bases a year ago, making good on 20-of-26 attempts. The Reynolds, Ga. native also finished second on the team with a .301 batting average and third on the squad with 20 runs scored.
Santana had a breakout freshman season in Macon. She came on to start 33-of-41 games and was second the team in RBI, with 19. Her five homeruns were good enough for second on the team and she will look to improve upon those numbers heading into 2011.
Holmes saw limited action last season with nine strikeouts in only seven appearances on the year.
Molly Anderson pitched just 4.1 innings in her freshman season with three strikeouts to her credit while Redlinger appeared in nine games for the Bears as a freshman as well.
The Bears continue fall workouts in preparation for the 2011 regular season which begins in February. Mercer will look to improve on a 25-30 overall record in 2010.
