May 11, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Four Kentucky players were named to the All-Southeastern Conference teams headlined by senior Megan Yocke while senior Meagan Aull was tabbed the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year it was announced by the league office Tuesday evening.
UK’s senior catcher, Yocke, was tabbed to the All-SEC first team for the second consecutive season. Aull and sophomore Kara Dill were named to the second team while freshman Emily Jolly was an All-SEC Freshman team honoree. Yocke becomes just the second player in school history to earn recognition on the All-SEC teams in each of her four seasons. Aull is the first recipient of the SEC Scholar Athlete award in school allure. Dill and Jolly are first time honorees.
“It was another good day for Kentucky softball,” UK coach Rachel Lawson said. “Congratulations to Aull, Dill, Jolly and Yocke. To be recognized among the best in the SEC is quite an honor. It is nice to see that their hard work is being recognized outside of the program.”
Aull earned scholar-athlete honors by posting a 3.87 grade point average in Biology. She is a two-time All-SEC Academic team member and a two-time NFCA Scholar Athlete honoree. Most recently she was honored as a first-team Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District first team honoree.
On the field, Aull is charting a career-high .375 batting average. She has also notched career-bests in runs scored (37), hits (63), and RBI (36). On April 4 she was named the SEC Player of the Week following a weekend in which she charted four home runs in a sweep of then No. 5 Florida. In SEC action, Aull totaled a hit in 19 of 23 SEC games to pace the Blue and White.
Yocke is just the second player in school history to earn All-SEC honors in every season of her career matching former player Molly Johnson’s feat. She has now been named to the All-SEC first team in consecutive seasons.
The Sunnyvale, Calif., native has had another banner year for the Cats. She is hitting with a career-high .345 clip and notched a career-best 10 homers on the season. Yocke also claims a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage behind the plate in league action.The senior was named the SEC Player of the Week in early March after leading UK to a series-upset of No. 7 Tennessee. Yocke was responsible for the bottom of the seventh two-out three-run homer to force extra innings in the deciding game.
Dill led the Wildcat attack with a .379 batting average and totaled a hit in 18 of 23 league games. She posted career-bests in extra-base hits with five doubles and a pair of triples. She also brought in a career-best 19 RBI on the year. Dill connected for at least one hit in 14 straight games, the longest hitting streak of any UK player in the 2011 season. Her honor on the second team marks the fifth consecutive season a UK shortstop has been honored as one of the league’s best players following Johnson and former standout Brooke Marnitz.
Jolly becomes the ninth Kentucky player to earn All-SEC Freshman team honors. The Owensboro, Ky., native batted .314 against SEC opponents which is nearly 100 points higher than her overall season batting average in her first campaign. Jolly started all 23 games at second base for UK in conference action and had 26 putouts and 24 assists in her first season.
The four players honored in 2011 matches a program record for most All-SEC recognitions in a season with the 2009 squad that also had four players honored.
Kentucky returns to action Thursday, May 12 at noon ET in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. UK will take on Tennessee to begin the league tournament.
Follow along with UK all post-season long at UKathetics.com.
2011 SEC Softball Awards
First Team All-SEC
P – Kelsi Dunne, Alabama
P – Brittany Mack, LSU
IF – Whitney Larsen, Alabama
IF – Megan Bush, Florida
IF – Alisa Goler, Georgia
IF – Lauren Gibson, Tennessee
OF – Kayla Braud, Alabama
OF – Kelsey Bruder, Florda
OF – Megan Wiggins, Georgia
OF – Raven Chavanne, Tennessee
C – Megan Yocke, Kentucky
DP/U – Brittany Schutte, Florida
Second Team All-SEC
P – Hannah Rogers, Florida
P – Ellen Renfroe, Tennessee
IF – Aja Paculba, Florida
IF – Brianna Hesson, Georgia
IF – Kara Dill, Kentucky
IF – Anissa Young, LSU
OF – Michelle Moultrie, Florida
OF – Taylor Schlopy, Georgia
OF – Meagan Aull, Kentucky
OF – Kelly Grieve, Tennessee
C – Ashley Razey, Georgia
DP/U – Amanda Locke, Alabama
Freshman All-SEC
P – Hannah Rogers, Florida
P – Ellen Renfroe, Tennessee
IF – Kaila Hunt, Alabama
IF – Cheyenne Coyle, Florida
IF – Emily Jolly, Kentucky
IF – Madison Shipman, Tennessee
OF – Simone Heyward, LSU
OF – RT Cantillo, Ole Miss
OF – Brianna Bell, Mississippi State
C – Sam Lenahan, Mississippi State
DP/U – Morgan Estell, Auburn
SEC All-Defensive
P – Kelsi Dunne, Alabama; Hannah Rogers, Florida
C – Kendall Dawson, Alabama
1B – Brianna Hesson, Georgia
2B – Lauren Gibson, Tennessee
SS – Whitney Larsen, Alabama
3B – Alisa Goler, Georgia
LF – Megan Wiggins, Georgia
CF – Michelle Moultrie, Florida; Kelly Grieve, Tennessee
RF – Jazlyn Lunceford, Alabama
Player of the Year
Kelsey Bruder, Florida
Pitcher of the Year
Kelsi Dunne, Alabama
Co-Coaches of the Year
Tim Walton, Florida; Yvette Girouard, LSU
Freshman of the Year
Ellen Renfroe, Tennessee
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Meagan Aull, Kentucky
