TENNERTON – Buckhannon-Upshur’s Shelby McDaniels and Jansen Kimble earned Big 10 Conference softball honors, as the all-conference team was released Wednesday.
McDaniels earned First Team honors as a shortstop, while Kimble was tabbed for Second Team honors as a pitcher.
McDaniels, a senior who recently announced her decision to play softball at Glenville State University, led the Lady Bucs in hitting with a .440 average. She collected 37 hits in 84 at-bats with nine doubles, one triple and three home runs.
She drove in a team-best 31 runs while finishing second on the team in runs scored with 34. In 96 plate appearances, she struck out just three times. McDaniels also threw 26 2/3 innings for B-U and posted a 3-3 mark with an earned-run average of 3.68.
“Shelby put together a really nice senior year to cap a great career where she is either the career leader or top three in just about every category offensively,” Buckhannon-Upshur head coach Levi Bender said. “It really is too bad that her defense doesn’t get highlighted as much, but for the second year in a row she kept her error totals under five — I think three again — which is unheard of as an infielder.”
Kimble, just a sophomore, was the workhorse in the circle for the Lady Bucs as she appeared in 21 games, starting 19 while throwing 108 1/3 innings. She finished the year with an 8-12 mark and an earned run average of 3.69.
At the plate, she hit .313 going 25-for-80 at the plate with two home runs and 24 RBIs.
“Jansen, as a sophomore, has truly earned her second-team nod,” said Bender. “She was the workhorse in the conference innings-wise. She battled a lot of ups and downs and kept making strides to better herself and her teammates. She set career highs in strikeouts for a single game and a season this year.”
Lincoln, which won the conference title this season, received two individual awards as Delaney Haller was named Pitcher of the Year while Yancey Weaver was named Coach of the Year. Philip Barbour’s Sara Simon was named Player of the Year.
Despite not winning the league, Robert C. Byrd led the All-Conference Team with six selections.
“I felt we had other players deserving of recognition, especially if you look at the statistics of Taylor Spratt and Robin Ball, but other players on other teams got snubbed too,” concluded Bender.
Big 10 All-Conference Softball Team
First Team
Pitcher – Fran Alvaro (Robert C. Byrd)
Catcher – Emma Kyle (Liberty)
First Base – Liz Murphy (Fairmont Senior)
Second Base – Ava Junkins (Robert C. Byrd)
Shortstop – Shelby McDaniels (Buckhannon-Upshur)
Third Base – Emerson Haddix (Elkins)
Left Field – Kaitlyn Stone (Elkins)
Center Field – Kady Crock (Liberty)
Right Field – Isabell Prieto (Robert C. Byrd)
Utility – Fredrick Maloley (Grafton)
Utility – Lilly Kriss (Philip Barbour)
Utility – Abby Hartley (Lewis County)
Utility – Alexis Williams (Lincoln)
Second Team
Pitcher – Jansen Kimble (Buckhannon-Upshur)
Catcher – Gina Alvaro (Robert C. Byrd)
First Base – Avery Childers (Robert C. Byrd)
Second Base – Izzy Talerico (East Fairmont)
Shortstop – Alyssa Dunn (Robert C. Byrd)
Third Base – Rachel Mason (Bridgeport)
Left Field – Faith Gaines (East Fairmont)
Center Field – Emily Robey (Lincoln)
Right Field – Emily Brown (Lincoln)
Utility – Blair Nuzum (East Fairmont)
Utility – Haley Younkins (Liberty)
Utility – Cadence Lambert (Lincoln)
Utility – Grayson Purkey (Lewis County)
Player of the Year – Sara Simon (Philip Barbour)
Pitcher of the Year – Delaney Haller (Lincoln)
Coach of the Year – Yancey Weaver (Lincoln)
