Lady Saints Earn MWAC Honors

5/23/06

Leslie Huffman, former Century prep softball player received Second-Team All Midwest Athletic Conference Honors and former Cobden prep player Jessie Pitts of Cobden received Honorable Mention.
Huffman, a freshman, posted a .313 batting average, 77 runs scored and 9 stolen bases on the season. "Leslie had to adjust her game quite a bit to the college level," SCC Head Coach Kim Palmer said. "She was primarily a bunter in high school and we had to convince her that she could swing and be just as effective. She worked really hard to make the adjustments she needed and her efforts paid off with her being recognized by the other coaches in the conference."

Pitts, a sophomore, posted a conference record of 4-6 in conference (9-14) overall. She handled the majority of the pitching throughout the season logging 156 innings pitched. "Jessie had a mental toughness about her this season that maybe she lacked as a freshman," Palmer said. "After her freshman season we challenged her to be the leader of our pitching staff and she took that role on with a lot of determination."

In addition to Huffman and Pitts, six members of the Shawnee College Lady Saints Softball Team earned MWAC All-Academic Honors. To be eligible a player must have a 3.5 GPA or higher. Players receiving those honors were sophomores Ashley Kern of Benton, Mo. (3.907), Brittany Sadler of Vienna (3.769) and freshmen Alexis Almaroad of Marion (3.548), Leslie Huffman of Ullin (3.791), Whitney Patterson of Dongola (3.765) and Ashley Simmons of Kevil, Ky. (3.861).

As a team, the Lady Saints had a combined GPA of 3.259. "We stress how important the academics are in our program," Coach Palmer said. "We want our kids to understand that they are here to get an education and their ability to play softball is merely a tool in which they can use to finance some of their education."

"I was delighted with the overall academic performance of the team. I know from experience how tough it can be to be an athlete and keep up the academics when competing. To see 6 of the 14 remaining scholarship players with a 3.5 or higher is outstanding. But to have the team GPA that we had speaks volumes for the quality of student-athletes we have in our softball program here at SCC."

"Academically our goal next year would be to match the volleyball team's feat this year of having the highest GPA in the Nation."
The Lady Saints finished the season with a 16-30 record. Coach Palmer is very pleased with the way the season ended.

"I was excited to enter the conference this season and for our first time out to land two players on the All-Conference teams," Palmer said "That says a lot about our young ladies here at SCC. When you have the National Runners-Up (Parkland placed 2nd in the National Tournament again this year) in your conference and you can still have players recognized; it is a tribute to what these young ladies accomplished this season."