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Ashley Waters Named America East Player of the Year
May 7, 2008
ORONO, Maine - University of Maine softball junior second baseman Ashley Waters was named the America East Player of the Year on Wednesday evening at the league's annual awards banquet in Albany, N.Y. She also picked up two more awards on the evening as she was named to the All-America East First-Team and the America East All-Academic Team. In addition to Waters, three other Black Bears were honored on the night as Terren Hall (Fr., 3B) and Alexis Souhlaris (So., OF) were named to the All-America East Second-Team, while Hall and Kirstin Allen (Fr., 1B) earned spots on the America East All-Rookie Team. Waters turned in one of the finest offensive seasons in school and America East history in 2008. She either tied for the lead or led the conference in hits (58), home runs (10) and total bases (101) following the regular season. Waters also ranked among the top 10 in several other offensive categories, including: batting average (T-5th, .352), slugging percentage (3rd, .612), runs scored (5th, 33), runs batted in (5th, 30), doubles (5th, 11), total plate appearances (10th, 182) and at-bats (3rd, 165). Waters' offensive play was one of the major reasons that enabled the Black Bears to shake off a slow start to the season and contend for a playoff spot in the campaign's final weekend. In conference play this season, Waters batted .400 against league foes.
An Amesbury, Mass. native, Waters earned a trio of regular season awards, including being named the America East Player of the Week twice (including the season's inaugural weekly award) and earning the ECAC Player-of-the-Week award once. She becomes the fourth player in program history to earn the conference player-of-the-year award, and the first to do so since Sara Jewett in 2000. The other winners included Deb Smith (1994) and Michelle Puls (1997, 1998). Waters also becomes the third Black Bear in the last three seasons to earn one of the America East's major awards, as Jenna Balent was named the rookie of the year in 2006 and Stacey Sullivan was named the coach of the year that same season.
By being named the league's player of the year, Waters also garnered a spot on the first-team. She was also named to the conference's All-Academic Team for the second-straight season. Hall, a Bucksport, Maine native, was the other Black Bear to earn multiple America East honors on the night with her second-team and all-rookie awards. She finished third in the league this season with nine home runs while batting .258 with a .490 slugging percentage. Hall drove in 31 runs which was first on the team and second in the conference. Souhlaris garnered an all-conference honor for the second-straight season, as she was named to the America East First-Team as a freshman last season. This season, the Derry, N.H. native batted .291 with a .465 slugging percentage. She ranked fifth in the league with eight home runs. Allen was named to the all-rookie team after displaying a strong glove at first base and posting an impressive .990 fielding percentage with just three errors. She started 42 of the 44 games she appeared in and drove in 11 runs. |
