University of Michigan softball team Freshman utility player Amanda Chidester (Allen Park, Mich./Cabrini HS) earned Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Great Lakes Region recognition today (Thursday, May 14) by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association with a nod in her first collegiate season. The Wolverines' leading hitter for much of the 2009 season, Chidester has been an immediate force from the plate with a .369 season average, 18 extra-base hits and 34 RBI. Chidester kicked off her collegiate career in eye-opening fashion, recording three consecutive multi-hit performances, including a 3-for-4 effort in the season opener vs. Pitt. She leads the team with 18 multi-hit games and has demonstrated a knack for clutch hitting with 11 game-winning base knocks. Michigan enters the NCAA Tournament with a 41-10 record, having reached the 40-win total for the 15th season in a row. 

Ball State University softball player Elizabeth Milan (Grand Blanc, Mich. Grand Blanc H.S.) has been named to the 2009 Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division I All-Great Lakes Region First Team. This selection marks one of the first Cardinals players to be honored on the all-region first team since 1998. The NFCA honors student-athletes from 10 regions, and are chosen by member coaches from each region. Milan will now be eligible for the NFCA All-America teams, which will be announced May 27. Milan was named the MAC Pitcher of the Year plus received the league's inaugural Nan Harvey Sportsmanship Award this season.  She tallied a 21-15 overall record with a 2.22 earned-run average in 224 innings pitched.  Her 21 victories rank as the fourth best single-season total in school history, while her 39 appearances ties her mark of 39 set in 2007 and ranks as the third best in Ball State annals. Milan compiled a 12-2 MAC record and struck out 85 batters in conference play.  She tallied a Ball State single-season record 204 strikeouts on the season.  In addition, Milan, who owns a 3.94 grade-point average on Ball State's 4.0 scale as a math education major was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V team. Under the direction of 2009 MAC Coach of the Year, Craig Nicholson, the Cardinals won the school's first ever regular season MAC Championship in softball. Ball State completed the season with a 29-24 overall record, including an 18-3 conference mark.

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Senior Beth Northway was one of five Notre Dame softball players to receive the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-Region honor. The five honorees comprise the largest group of all-region selections since Notre Dame placed six on the team in 2001. As a designated player, Northway was a first-team all-league player and copped a spot on CoSIDA's Academic All-District second team last week.Northway paces Notre Dame with a .500 on-base pct. from the lead-off spot. The senior, an accounting major with a 3.83 grade-point-average from Kentwood, Mich., scores just under one run for every three at-bats. She is tied for the team-high with 11 doubles and second with a .376 batting avg. Northway posted a 12-game hitting streak earlier in the year and has had 11 multi-hit and five multi-run games. The designated player ranks second on the Irish squad with seven sacrifices. What makes the first team all-BIG EAST player even more remarkable is that fact that she bounced back from shoulder surgery last year and did not become a fixture in the lineup this season until mid-March.

The NFCA honors student-athletes from 10 regions, and are chosen by member coaches from each region.Great Lakes All-Region TeamFIRST TEAM
UT/Non-P -- Beth Northway, Notre Dame http://www.und.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/051409aaa.html

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – With a combined 9-0 record for the week between them, the Notre Dame and DePaul softball programs presented a pair of award worthy players. Fighting Irish senior designated player Beth Northway is the BIG EAST Player of the Week after her consistent bat helped the Irish run their winning streak to seven games.

Northway came through in pinch-hitting duties for Notre Dame with nine hits in 16 at-bats as the Irish posted a 6-0 record for the week, including three wins over BIG EAST teams. Northway hit for a .562 batting average and 1.125 slugging percentage in the six contests, including a pair of home runs and three doubles. The senior had four multi-hit games, scoring seven runs and collecting seven walks. Northway connected for four hits in seven at-bats at USF to help Notre Dame secure its first ever sweep of the Bulls. The senior, who started the season as a non-starter, has emerged as one of the Irish’s most productive hitters this season.

MIDLAND, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team continued its hot play in the 2009 GLIAC Tournament to capture the Cardinals first back-to-back championships since 1990 when the school won its third straight championship. Saginaw Valley defeated Wayne State 1-0 in the GLIAC Championship Game.

Saginaw Valley got the game only offense rolling right away in the first after Angela Kaiser (Waterford, Mich./Our Lady of the Lakes) reached first on a dropped strike three pitch. She moved over to second on a perfectly placed bunt single by Marsha Beaubien (Alpena, Mich.) to give the Cardinals runners on first and second. Both runners moved up on a Stacy Kraatz sacrifice bunt leaving runners on second and third for clean-up hitter Jessica Anhel (Oxford, Mich.). Anhel would lay down another perfectly placed bunt that would allow Kaiser to score from third on SVSU’s second sacrifice of the inning to give the Cardinals the early 1-0 lead.

Jade Fulton (Byron, Mich.) (16-5) got the start in the circle for the Cardinals picking up her 16th win on the season as she kept the Wayne State batters off balance all afternoon. Fulton allowed no runs on two hits, while striking out 4 hitters on the day.

The Cardinal are now 35-9 on the season and will return to University Center to await word on the 2009 NCAA Midwest Regional. Going into the weekend Saginaw Valley was ranked fourth in the Midwest Region behind Ashland (1), Ferris State (2) and Wayne State (3).