Nunley, Cheek, Steed and Stokes Garner All-SEC Postseason Honors
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Four
Kentucky softball players were named to the All-Southeastern Conference
postseason teams, it was announced on Tuesday afternoon by the league office.
Senior pitcher Kelsey Nunley was named first-team All-SEC in addition to being
named the SEC Pitcher of the year, Abbey Cheek was named to the SEC
All-Freshman Team, and seniors Maisie Steed and Christian Stokes were named to
the SEC All-Defensive Team.
Those four awards combined with
head coach Rachel Lawson being named the SEC’s Coach of the Year gives Kentucky
five postseason conference awards – a new program record, surpassing the four
gained by the 2011 team that got Kentucky to its first-ever NCAA Super Regional
that season.
Nunley becomes the seventh player
to be named first team All-SEC in Kentucky history, and the first since
Brittany Cervantes in 2012. That duo joins Megan Yocke, Molly Johnson
(Belcher), Nikki Jones, Lyndsey Angus and Leslie Kwiatikowski as the only first
team All-SEC members in UK history.
Freshman Abbey Cheek was named to
the All-SEC Freshman team after hitting .331 on the season with a freshman
record 49 runs batted in. Cheek leads UK in a number of offensive categories
including RBI, home runs (9), total bases (90), sits second in doubles (8) hits
(51) and at-bats (154). Cheek becomes the 12th all-time player at Kentucky to
be named to the SEC All-Freshman Team, and first since Kelsey Nunley did it
back in 2013.
Both Maisie Steed and Christian
Stokes were named to the All-SEC Defensive Team on Tuesday for the first time
in their careers in the Blue and White. Steed was selected as the All-SEC
Defensive first basemen, with Stokes being chosen as the All-SEC Defensive
selection for the shortstop position.
Stokes, who was drafted 26th
overall in the fourth round of the 2016 National Pro Fastpitch Draft last month
by the ScrapYard Dawgs, had a fielding percentage above .900 for the fourth
year in a row, recording 99 assists on the season, and now has over 400 for her
career, which currently ranks third on Kentucky’s all-time defensive assists
list.
Steed, who like Nunley and Stokes
is in her senior season, had a banner defensive season at first base, recording
a .992 defensive fielding percentage as she only had three errors charged to
her all season in 355 opportunities. The Georgian led off in the UK order a
majority of the season, hitting .258 in the lead-off spot for UK, drawing 27
walks and driving in 15 runs on the year.
Kentucky will open SEC Tournament play on Thursday afternoon in
Starkville, Miss., at 2:30 p.m. ET live on the SEC Network. The second-seeded
Wildcats will play either the seventh-seeded LSU Tigers, or 10th-seeded
Texas A&M Aggies – who play on Wednesday afternoon in the opening round of
the tournament hosted by Mississippi State this week.
All-SEC Awards
First Team All-SEC
P – Delanie Gourley,
Florida
P – Aleshia Ocasio,
Florida
P – Kelsey Nunley, Kentucky
IF – Kasey Cooper,
Auburn
IF – Alyssa DiCarlo,
Georgia
IF – Bianka Bell,
LSU
IF – Meghan Gregg,
Tennessee
IF – Tori Vidales,
Texas A&M
OF – Haylie
McCleney, Alabama
OF – Amanda Lorenz,
Florida
OF – Sydni Emanuel,
Georgia
OF – Emily Crane,
Missouri
C – Ashley Walters,
Texas A&M
DP/U – Kayli
Kvistad, Florida
Second Team All-SEC
P – Sydney
Littlejohn, Alabama
P – Chelsea
Wilkinson, Georgia
P – Carley Hoover,
LSU
IF – Leona Lafaele,
Alabama
IF – Jade Rhodes,
Auburn
IF – Alex Hugo,
Georgia
IF – Tina Iosefa,
Georgia
IF – Sami Fagan,
Missouri
OF – Kirsti Merritt,
Florida
OF – Cortni Emanuel,
Georgia
OF – Taylor Gadbois,
Missouri
OF – Keeli Milligan,
Texas A&M
C – Aubree Munro,
Florida
DP/U – Rainey
Gaffin, Tennessee
Freshman All-SEC
P – Kelly Barnhill,
Florida
P – Matty Moss,
Tennessee
P – Samantha Show,
Texas A&M
IF – Alyssa DiCarlo,
Georgia
IF – Lacey Sumerlin,
Georgia
IF – Hailey Lunderman,
Ole Miss
IF – Aubrey Leach,
Tennessee
IF – Kaitlyn
Alderink, Texas A&M
OF – Amanda Lorenz,
Florida
OF – Regan Nash,
Missouri
OF – Brooke Vines,
Tennessee
OF – Keeli Milligan,
Texas A&M
C – Reagan Dykes,
Alabama
DP/U – Abbey Cheek, Kentucky
SEC All-Defensive
P – Rainey Gaffin,
Tennessee
C – Aubree Munro,
Florida
1B – Leona Lafaele,
Alabama
1B – Jade Rhodes,
Auburn
1B – Maisie Steed, Kentucky
1B – Tori Vidales,
Texas A&M
2B – Emily Carosone,
Auburn
SS – Christian Stokes, Kentucky
3B – Kasey Cooper,
Auburn
LF – Kallie Case,
Alabama
CF – Haylie
McCleney, Alabama
RF – Emily Crane,
Missouri
Player of the
Year: Kasey
Cooper, Auburn
Pitcher of the
Year: Kelsey Nunley, Kentucky
Freshman of the
Year: Amanda
Lorenz, Florida
Scholar-Athlete
of the Year: Kasey
Cooper, Auburn
Coach of the
Year: Rachel Lawson, Kentucky
For the latest on the Kentucky
softball team, follow @UKSoftball on
Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
