LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) has announced 380 student-athletes from 154 programs have received 2021 NFCA Division I All-Region accolades. Of those recognized, 10 student-athletes hailed from five BIG EAST schools, including four honorees from recently crowned BIG EAST Champion Villanova.
The awards honor softball student-athletes from the Association’s 10 regions with first, second and third-team selections. NFCA member head coaches from each respective region voted on the teams, and all student-athletes now become eligible for the 2021 NFCA Division I All-America squads.
One day before making its NCAA Regional debut Villanova had four players named to the NFCA Mideast All-Region teams. Senior pitcher/utility Paige Rauch and sophomore third baseman Chloe Smith were each first team all-region honorees, while sophomore catcher Ally Jones was named to the second team and junior catcher Ryan Henry was a third team selection. All four players have starred for a Wildcats team which has won 36 games and will play Ole Miss on Friday afternoon in the first game of the Tucson regional.
Butler standout Lauren Fey was selected to the second team in the Mideast Region. Fey's .433 batting average leads the BIG EAST and is 27th nationally. Her on-base percentage of .524 is second in the conference and 36th in the NCAA. Fey started all 39 games for the Bulldogs, earning All-BIG EAST First Team honors as well as a spot on the 2021 BIG EAST All-Tournament Team. In addition to leading the Bulldogs in both batting average and on-base percentage, Fey also paced the team in runs, hits, triples, walks, stolen bases and slugging percentage. She struck out only seven times in 120 at-bats, the best rate in the conference.
St. John's graduate students Marissa Rizzi and Kaitlin Mattera earned spots on the 2021 NFCA DI Great Lakes Second and Third teams respectively. This marks the second time that both Rizzi and Mattera have been honored by the NFCA, as the Red Storm catcher landed on the third team in 2018 while Rizzi earned a spot on the second team in 2019.
DePaul senior Jessica Cothern was named to the All-Great Lakes Region Third Team after leading the Blue Demons to an overall record of 25-11 and 13-1 in the BIG EAST en route to the conference regular season title. Cothern paced the squad with a .373 batting average, .618 slugging percentage and .458 on-base percentage. In her final campaign with the Blue Demons, Cothern totaled a team-high 38 hits and 63 total bases to go along with 21 RBI and six home runs. Behind the plate, Cothern caught 13 runners stealing in 17 attempts while accounting for 151 putouts and one double play.
Creighton’s Ashley Cantu and Kailey Wilson each earned spots on the All-Great Lakes Region Second Team. Cantu led the Bluejays with a .402 batting average, 37 hits and 16 runs scored. She also recorded two home runs, two triples and one double during 2021 to rank third on the Bluejays with a .522 slugging percentage. Cantu ended her Creighton career ranked second in program history with a .382 batting average and tied for third in hits (218) and runs scored (129) during 175 games played. A native of Aurora, Colorado, Wilson earned a unanimous selection to the All-BIG EAST First Team after leading the Bluejays and the conference with a .747 slugging percentage. The sophomore designated player also paced Creighton in home runs (8), doubles (5), RBIs (26), total bases (62), walks (12) and on-base percentage (.479). Wilson posted a .398 batting average with 33 overall hits and scored 11 times. She tied for the team-lead in hits with runners in scoring position (10) and two-out base knocks (10).
Mideast Region – First Team
Chloe Smith, Villanova
Paige Rauch, Villanova
Mideast Region – Second Team
Lauren Fey, Butler
Aly Jones, Villanova
Mideast Region – Third Team
Ryan Henry, Villanova
Great Lakes Region – Second Team
Ashley Cantu, Creighton
Kailey Wilson, Creighton
Marissa Rizzi, St. John’s
Great Lakes Region – Third Team
Jessica Cothern, DePaul
Kaitlin Mattera, St. John’s