VALDOSTA – Following last weekend’s conclusion to the 2017 season, postseason honors continued for Valdosta State softball, as four Blazers earned D2CCA All-South Region honors.
Hayley Cruthers and Taylor Hartenbach earned First Team recognition in Monday’s announcement, while Chelsea Canara and Jessica Mohl both claimed Second Team honors.
Serving as Valdosta State’s cleanup hitter for the majority of the 2017 season, Hartenbach has spent a ton of time on the basepaths. Her .473 on base percentage placed her ninth in the GSC, and she also ranked among the league’s top ten in RBI’s (46, 8th), walks (37, T-1st), sacrifice bunts (13, T-2nd), and sacrifice flies (7, 1st).
Cruthers, who ranked third in the GSC in doubles with 16 and slugged nine home runs on the year, finished the season second in the GSC and sixth in the nation in RBI’s with 68, a category in which she has ranked among the nation’s best throughout the entire 2017 season. Most impressive of all has been Cruthers’ defensive effort. She was perfect at first base and did not commit a single error in 479 chances. Her mind-boggling defensive performance as a senior included 16 assists and 463 putouts.
Mohl, who was recently named First Team All-GSC and First Team All-South Region by the NFCA, picked up Second Team honors in recognition of a junior season in which she led the Gulf South Conference in runs scored (68), and ranked third all-time in Valdosta State history with 90 hits. The shortstop standout struck for four triples on the season, stole 29 bases, and hit two home runs, including a game-winner in the first game of the Gulf South Conference Tournament.
Second team honorees for Valdosta State also included Canara, who was named the GSC Player of the Week for the final week of the regular season, and led the league in doubles with 18 on the season. She ranked fourth in the conference in home runs with 13, and closed out the year with a .369 batting average.
As First Team honorees, both Cruthers and Hartenbach will be placed on the ballot for D2CCA All-American.
