Four PBC Softball Players Named All-American

AUGUSTA, GA – Four Peach Belt Conference softball players have been named All-Americans as the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and Daktronics released their teams.  Armstrong second baseman April Jowers was the only player recognized by both organizations and appeared on the first team for both.  On the NFCA team, Georgia College outfielder Whitney Okvist was also named first-team while Columbus State utility player Casey Googe was named third team.  North Georgia pitcher Jessica Coan was named third team by Daktronics.  This is the sixth year in a row that the Peach Belt Conference has had multiple All-Americans.

Jowers led NCAA DII in batting this season, hitting .565 with 105 hits and 28 stolen bases. The two-time Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year finished her Pirate career as Armstrong's and the Peach Belt Conference's all-time hits leader.  A senior from Columbus, Ga., her .565 average is the highest single-season batting average in PBC history.

Okvist makes her first appearance on an NFCA All-America Team, hitting .413 this season with 52 stolen bases in as many tries, a school record. She scored 54 runs and drove in 19. A first-team All-Conference selection, the sophomore from Kennesaw, Ga., had the third-highest single-season stolen base total in PBC history and led the league in triples and runs scored while third in batting average and second in on-base percentage.

Casey Googe set the PBC single-season home run record with 22 in 2012, two more than the previous record set by Kennesaw State’s Cambria McKay in 2004 and USC Upstate’s Stacey Berrong in 1996.  A sophomore from Columbus, Ga., Googe is tied for third in all of Division II in home runs and also led the PBC in RBIs, total bases and runs scored.  She hit.360 for the season with a .790 slugging percentage, also tops in the PBC.

Jessica Coan finishes her career at North Georgia as a two-time All-American.  A senior from Duluth, Ga., she led the Peach Belt in innings pitched, wins, strikeouts and strikeouts per game.  Her 332 strikeouts this year is the fifth-highest single-season total in league history and her 666 career strikeouts is seventh on the PBC’s all-time list.

National Fastpitch Coaches Association
2012 All-America Team

First Team
2b – April Jowers, Armstrong
OF – Whitney Okvist, Georgia College

Third Team
UT - Casey Googe, Columbus State

2012 Daktronics Softball
All-America Team

First Team
2b – April Jowers, Armstrong

Third Team
P – Jessica Coan, North Georgia

Honorable Mention: Melissa Dickie, North Georgia; Casey Googe, Columbus State