NEW HAVEN, Conn. - - A dominating season in the circle has garnered Wilmington University softball freshman Makayla McCarthy the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Pitcher of the Year award as she is a part of five Wildcats named All-CACC, as announced by conference office on Tuesday.
In addition to McCarthy being named the CACC Pitcher of the Year, the freshman was named First Team All-CACC with teammates Rosa'Lynn Burton, Caitlyn Whiteside, and Annie Davila. Freshman Lauren Lopez earned a spot on the All-CACC Second Team.
The five Wildcats led the team to its best regular season in program history, going 35-15 overall while winning a record 21 games in the CACC to earn the number two seed in the upcoming CACC Tournament.
Makayla McCarthy (El Cajon, Calif./Steele Canyon) dominated in the circle this season, leading the CACC with 191 strikeouts and second to only her teammate with 16 wins. She is also second in the CACC with a 1.70 ERA in her first collegiate season. She set a season high 14 strikeouts twice this year, first at Chestnut Hill in a 2-0 victory and again against Post in a 5-3 victory. She's had seven games with 10 ore more strikeouts. In 26 starts, she's compiled 21 completes and five shutouts on the season.
McCarthy was also named First Team All-CACC Utility-Pitcher after hitting .355 with 43 hits, a team leading 13 doubles, a triple, and four home runs. She finished tied for second on the team with 27 RBI. She hit her first collegiate home run in game one at Dominican while also hitting homers at Jefferson, and two at Georgian Court.
Rosa'Lynn Burton (Dover, Del./Caesar Rodney) repeats as a First Team All-CACC outfielder, earning the distinction along with CACC Rookie of the Year a season ago. She leads the CACC with 39 stolen bases and is second in the league in hitting .465 on the season. She also leads the conference with 80 hits and 49 runs scored, ranking second with six triples, 113 total bases, and a .518 on-base percentage. She ended the regular season on a 17-game hitting steak. With 80 hits, she has nine doubles, six triples, and four home runs. Burton has hit home runs against West Virginia Wesleyan, Dominican, Georgian Court, and Post.
Caitlyn Whiteside (Bermuda Dunes, Calif./Shadow Hills) is another repeat First Team All-CACC performer for the Wildcats, helping anchor the circle with McCarthy. She leads the CACC with 18 wins on the year, going 18-7 in 28 appearances with 24 starts. She is fourth in the CACC with a 2.60 ERA on the year, compiling three shuts with 21 complete games. Whiteside had a season high seven strikeouts in game two at Jefferson, a 6-4 victory. She has 72 punch-outs and only 29 walks in 161.2 innings.
Annie Davila (Yorba Linda, Calif./Yorba Linda) earned an All-CACC spot as the First Team utility player, starting 18 games behind the plate and 17 as the designated player. She finished the regular season with a .311 batting average, collecting 32 hits with five doubles, four home runs, and tied for second on the team with 27 RBI. Davila batted 3-for-3 with two doubles against defending national champions Minnesota State Mankato and hit three of her four home runs in a doubleheader at Nyack, including two in game two. She also homered at Goldey-Beacom, leading to being named the CACC Co-Player of the Week on April 2.
Lauren Lopez (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) was voted as the Second Team All-CACC third baseman in her freshman season. Lopez leads the team and is fifth in the CACC with 36 RBI on the year. She is hitting .286 with 42 hits, including eight doubles, a triple, and two home runs, and leads the league with 12 sacrifice bunts. She hit her first collegiate home run against Le Moyne in the second game of the year while adding her second in game two at Georgian Court. Her season high four RBI also came in game two at Georgian Court.
Georgian Court's Samantha Reilly was voted as the CACC Player of the Year while teammate Caitlin Hughes was voted as the CACC Rookie of the Year. The league's sports information directors voted their coach, Nicole Degenhardt, as the CACC Coach of the Year. Goldey-Beacom earned the Team Sportsmanship Award to round out the 2018 CACC Softball Major Award Winners.
AGATE
2018 CACC Softball All-Conference Teams:
First Team:
1B – Emily Schaffer (Post University)
2B – Taylor Daniels (Dominican College)
3B – Christina Misiur (Caldwell University)
SS – Taylor Favinger (Holy Family University)
C – Samantha Reilly (Georgian Court University)
OF – Rosa'Lynn Burton (Wilmington University)
OF – Samantha Fitzgerald (Dominican College)
OF – Caitlin Hughes (Georgian Court University)
P – Sara Bearden (Caldwell University)
P – Stephanie Pepper (Jefferson)
P – Caitlyn Whiteside (Wilmington University)
DP – Kaileen Cain (Caldwell University)
UT-P – Makayla McCarthy (Wilmington University)
UT-NP – Annie Davila (Wilmington University)
Second Team:
1B – Maya Rodriguez (Caldwell University)
2B – Samantha Salomon (Georgian Court University)
3B – Lauren Lopez (Wilmington University)
SS- Jillian Regan (Dominican College)
C – Marisa Monasseri (Caldwell University)
OF – Malaya Black (Georgian Court University)
OF – Kelsey Marigliano (Holy Family University)
OF – Jeannette Roldan (Felician University)
P – Jessica O'Neill (Georgian Court University)
P – Ashley Owens (Felician University)
P – Jennifer Paride (Dominican College)
UT-P – Koreen Orozco (Holy Family University)
UT-NP – Paige Sandoval (Caldwell University)
2018 CACC Softball Major Award Winners:
Player of the Year: Samantha Reilly (Georgian Court University)
Rookie of the Year: Caitlin Hughes (Georgian Court University)
Pitcher of the Year: Makayla McCarthy (Wilmington University)
Coach of the Year: Nicole Degenhardt (Georgian Court University)
Team Sportsmanship Award: Goldey-Beacom College
Regular Season Champion: Caldwell University