COACH OF THE YEAR
Andy Gregg
Madison
Gregg and the 2-A Western Regional champion Patriots (23-5) made their best-ever run in the state fast-pitch playoffs before losing the NCHSAA 2-A championship series to Beddingfield on June 2-3 in Raleigh. Madison had only two seniors - first baseman Hannah Burnett and second baseman Carrie Gentry.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Chelsea Stanfield
Franklin
Senior
Pitcher
Stanfield was named the Western North Carolina Athletic Conference Player of the Year and the N.C. Softball Coaches Association's 3-A District Pitcher of the Year after going 17-3 with a 0.85 earned run average and 134 strikeouts. Stanfield pitched the Panthers (24-4) to the WNCAC tournament championship after their split the regular-season title with North Henderson. At the plate, she batted a team-high .472 with 30 RBIs and 11 doubles. Stanfield has signed with N.C. State.
FIRST TEAM
PITCHERS
Courtney Buchanan
McDowell
Junior
Buchanan was named the Mountain Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year and the N.C. Softball Coaches Association's 4-A District Pitcher of the Year after going 11-2 with a 1.27 ERA and 137 strikeouts. Buchanan suffered a season-ending knee injury in mid-April, but not before no-hitting Western North Carolina Athletic Conference champion Franklin and throwing one-hitters versus MAC 4-A champion Roberson and MAC 3-A champ Enka.
Jamie Hrobak
Polk County
Senior
Hrobak was named the Western Highlands Conference Player of the Year after going 21-4 with a 0.38 ERA and 249 strikeouts. She threw three perfect games and six no-hitters. Hrobak set a school record for career wins (68). She also batted .500 with 27 RBIs and three home runs this season. Hrobak has signed with Brevard College.
Allie Leake
Madison
Junior
Leake earned All-Western Highlands Conference honors after going 19-5 with an 0.82 ERA and 236 strikeouts. She also batted .356 with 18 RBIs and 30 runs scored.
INFIELDERS
Sieara Bishop
West Henderson
Senior
Bishop earned All-Western North Carolina Athletic Conference honors after batting .388 with 19 RBIs and 13 doubles. Bishop has signed with Furman.
Makayla Drewnoski
Madison
Sophomore
Drewnoski earned All-Western Highlands Conference honors after batting .505 with 44 RBIs and a WNC-record 16 home runs. She was also 4-0 as a pitcher with a 0.67 ERA and 41 strikeouts.
Micah James
Pisgah
Senior
James earned All-Western North Carolina Athletic Conference honors after leading the Black Bears in batting average (.478) for the third straight season. She has signed with Mars Hill.
Karley Yeager
Roberson
Junior
Yeager earned All-Mountain Athletic Conference honors after batting a school-record .526 for the MAC 4-A champion Rams.
CATCHER
Haley Rollins
Erwin
Senior
Rollins earned All-Mountain Athletic Conference honors and was named the N.C. Softball Coaches Association's 3-A District Player of the Year after batting .487 with 30 RBIs, 14 stolen bases and five home runs. Rollins only struck out six times and only four runners stole bases when she was behind the plate. Armstrong has signed with Armstrong Atlantic State (Ga.).
OUTFIELDERS
Kylie Leek
Hayesville
Junior
Leek was named the Smoky Mountain Conference Player of the Year after batting .542 with 26 RBIs, 23 runs, 12 doubles, three triples and three home runs.
Izzy McCurry
Roberson
Junior
McCurry earned All-Mountain Athletic Conference honors after batting .508 with 36 RBIs and 11 home runs. With a year to go, McCurry has already tied the WNC record for career home runs (30).
Kyara Porche
Enka
Junior
Porche was named the Mountain Athletic Conference Player of the Year after batting a team-high .469. Porche also led the MAC 3-A champion Sugar Jets in base hits (38), runs scored (24), one-base percentage (0.488) and fielding percentage (1.000).
DESIGNATED PLAYERS/UTILITY
Mahaila Irvin
Pisgah
Junior
Irvin earned All-Western North Carolina Athletic Conference honors as a catcher after batting .466 with 28 RBIs and 11 home runs. In two seasons, Irvin has now racked up 23 homers and she helped the Black Bears establish a NCHSAA single-season record for a team (40) this spring. Irvin has committed to Gardner-Webb.
Penny Lane Buckner
Mountain Heritage
Senior
Buckner earned All-Western Highlands Conference honors after batting .569 with 29 stolen bases. She intends to join Appalachian State as a walk-on next season.
SECOND TEAM
PITCHERS
Kim Cannon, North Henderson freshman
Kristen Case, Enka senior
Kayla McCarson, Erwin freshman
INFIELDERS
Amber Cook, Franklin junior
Rachel Drake, Roberson junior
Taylor Proctor, McDowell senior
Monica Taylor, North Buncombe sophomore
CATCHER
Taylor Nicholson, North Henderson senior
OUTFIELDERS
Ellie Caldwell, North Henderson freshman
Lauren Penland, Franklin senior
Jordan West, Erwin junior
DESIGNATED PLAYERS/UTILITY
Kendra Kirkland, Swain County sophomore
Shelby Robinson, Owen junior
HONORABLE MENTION
Asheville: Chandler Erin and Jillian Gleeson.
Enka: Kylie Anderson and Brenna West.
Erwin: Natalie Case and Allison Dowdle.
Franklin: Anissa Steele, Ashley Holland and Haylee Overholt.
Hayesville: Audrey Rogers, Rachel Benson, Breanna Rogers, Paisley Staton, Caroline Kelley, Judy Ledford, Cheyanna Penland and Megan Mallamas.
Hiwassee Dam: Morgan Helton and Tori Golden.
Madison: Hannah Burnett.
McDowell: Jordan Johnson, Morgan Vess and Kaylie Long.
Mountain Heritage: Samm Chandler.
Murphy: Kendra Henry and Katrina Evans.
North Buncombe: Macy Baldwin and Sabrina Crain.
North Henderson: Kayla Banks, Megan Smith, Jonnie Petree and Cheyenne Mathews.
Owen: Sarah Wells, Kristin Wilson, Heather Rhymer and Caitlin Bushong.
Polk County: Alyssa Montgomery and Brittany Jones.
Roberson: Keagan Trahan, Keila McCurry, Tara Matthews and Kassi Butcher.
Smoky Mountain: Courtney Fish, Emily Nicholson, Tate Sutton and Joselyn Barker.
Swain County: Nikki Cody, Breanna Bryant, Hannah Bowick, Richelle Jenkins, Brooke Coggins and Brittany Shuler.
Trailblazers: Ashley Whitaker, Alex Arnette and Amber Whitaker.
ABOUT THE ALL-WNC TEAMS: The Citizen-Times All-WNC teams are compiled by staff writer Andrew Pearson after nominations are requested from area coaches. Athletes who were not nominated were not eligible for the teams.
