May 6, 2009

2009 Division I Softball All-Independent Team

Brookings, SD --- Junior outfielder Megan Miller, who hit .386 for Idaho State in helping the school to a 20-win season, was named First Team All-Independent in a vote of the 26 coaches and media relations directors of the 13 Division I independent schools that compete in softball. Along with Miller, Caitlin McGrath was the only other Bengal to earn accolades, getting named Honorable Mention. The announcement was coordinated by the media relations office at the University of South Dakota.

Miller, a 5-3 junior from Vancouver, Washington, was a Second Team pick last season when there were just seven independents. She was second on the team in hitting with a .386 average, but she hit a team leading 17 extra base hits, including a school record six triples, and four home runs. She tripled twice in the season finale against Utah Valley, and she ranks nationally among the top 10 in triples and triples per game. She hit a game-winning two-run homer in the 10th inning to beat the College of Idaho 5-3, and had a 12-game hitting streak during the season.

McGrath, a 5-2 junior from Long Beach, California, led the Bengals in batting, hitting .397 for the season, and she finished the season with a 15-game hitting streak, which followed a 12-game streak. Her 58 hits set an ISU record, and she was 7-for-8 in stolen bases, and she also hit three triples.

South Dakota outfielder Tagney Jones, SIU Edwardsville pitcher Kaitlin Colosimo, Seattle's Hannah Klein, and Northern Colorado's Melisa Ryba earned the major individual honors. Jones, a senior from Lincoln, Nebraska was named Player of the Year. Colosimo, a senior from Orland Park, Illinois picked up Pitcher of the Year honors while Klein from Camarillo, California and Ryba from Littleton, Colorado shared Freshman of the Year honors. SIUE's coach Sandy Montgomery was named Coach of the Year.

The teams were selected by a vote of the coaches and media relations directors at the 13 independent institutions for softball that played full Division I schedules. Those schools are Bryant, Cal State Bakersfield, Houston Baptist, Idaho State, Longwood, North Carolina Central, North Dakota, Northern Colorado, Savannah State, Seattle, South Dakota, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, and Utah Valley.