GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – Notre Dame’s Cait Brooks has been selected as the 2019 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year and headlines the 2019 All-ACC Team as announced by the league office on Tuesday.
Virginia Tech’s Carrie Eberle was named the Pitcher of the Year, teammate Kelsey Bennett was tabbed as the Freshman of the Year, and Pete D'Amour of Virginia Tech was selected as the Coach of the Year. Florida State’s Sydney Sherrill was named Defensive Player of the Year
The All-ACC Teams and individual season awards were selected by a vote of the conference’s 12 head coaches.
A senior designated player, Brooks became the second Notre Dame player to be named ACC Softball Player of the Year, joining 2015 honoree Emilee Koerner. The Burbank, California, native is the league’s leader in home runs (20), batting average (.433), slugging percentage (.915), on base percentage (.525) and total bases (129) this season. Brooks also racked up 56 RBI on the year, which ranks second in the league behind only Emma Strouth of Virginia Tech who knocked in 66.
Eberle, a junior from Charlotte, North Carolina, leads the league with 21 complete games this season. She ranks second in the ACC in wins (25), innings pitched (185.2), earned run average (1.66) and shutouts (nine). Eberle was part of a stellar Hokie pitching staff that led the conference in ERA (1.86), opposing batting average (.207), hits allowed (259) and home runs allowed (17), and ranked second in strikeouts (328) and walks allowed (103).
Bennett, a rookie infielder, anchored a Virginia Tech team that led the league in batting average (.341) and home runs (90) on the year. The Jefferson, Georgia, native ranked among the top ten in the ACC in slugging percentage (fourth, .767), home runs (tied for sixth, 13), on base percentage (tied for sixth, .483), batting average (eighth, .397) and RBI (tied for eighth, 44).
A sophomore third baseman, Sherrill posted a fielding percentage of .965 on the year, with 51 putouts and 115 assists. The Moore, Oklahoma, native was a key contributor on a defense that allowed the least number of stolen bases (17) and recorded the least amount of errors (42) in the league. The Seminole defense ranked second in fielding percentage (.972) and recorded 1,057 putouts.
D'Amour received his first ACC Coach of the Year honor after guiding the Hokies to the No. 1 seed in the ACC Softball Championship and their first-ever Coastal Division championship. Pitt owns a 45-8 overall record, and a 20-4 mark in conference play on the year.
2019 ACC Softball Player of the Year: Cait Brooks, Sr., DP, Notre Dame
2019 ACC Softball Pitcher of the Year: Carrie Eberle, Jr., Virginia Tech
2019 ACC Softball Defensive Player of the Year: Sydney Sherrill, So., 3B, Florida State
2019 ACC Softball Freshman of the Year: Kelsey Bennett, 3B, Virginia Tech
2019 ACC Softball Coach of the Year: Pete D'Amour, Virginia Tech
2019 All-ACC Softball First Team
Carsyn Gordon, Sr., 1B, Florida State
Meghan King, Sr., P, Florida State
Sydney Sherrill, So., 3B, Florida State
Katie Krzus, Sr., 3B, Georgia Tech
Kristina Burkhardt, So., OF, North Carolina
Brittany Pickett, Jr., P, North Carolina
Cait Brooks, Sr., DP, Notre Dame
Melissa Rochford, Sr., 3B, Notre Dame
Payton Tidd, Fr., P, Notre Dame
Lacy Smith, Sr., 1B, Virginia
Jayme Bailey, Fr., 1B, Virginia Tech
Kelsey Bennett, Fr., 3B, Virginia Tech
Carrie Eberle, Jr., P, Virginia Tech
Keely Rochard, So., P, Virginia Tech
Emma Strouth, Sr., OF, Virginia Tech
2019 All-ACC Softball Second Team
Lexi DiEmmanuele, Sr., OF, Boston College
Emme Martinez, So., 3B, Boston College
Peyton St. George, So., P, Duke
Elizabeth Mason, So, UT, Florida State
Anna Shelnutt, Jr., C, Florida State
Cameron Stanford, So., CF, Georgia Tech
Sidney Melton, Sr., SS, Louisville
Megan Dray, So., C, North Carolina
Leah Murray, Sr., 2B, North Carolina
Kiani Ramsey, Sr., OF, North Carolina
Sam Russ, So., OF, NC State
Emma Clark, Fr., OF, Notre Dame
Katie Marino, Jr., 2B, Notre Dame
Olivia Gray, Sr., SS, Pittsburgh
Hunter Levesque, So., OF, Pittsburgh
2019 ACC Softball All-Freshman Team
Makinzy Herzog, P, Florida State
Kathryn Sandercock, P, Florida State
Bailee Zeitler, SS, Georgia Tech
Charley Butler, LF, Louisville
Rebecca Chung, C, Louisville
Hannah George, P, North Carolina
Emma Clark, OF, Notre Dame
Payton Tidd, P, Notre Dame
Jayme Bailey, 1B, Virginia Tech
Kelsey Bennett, 3B, Virginia Tech