Softballers on Academic All-District Team -- WEDNESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Five Cards Recognized by CSC

The College Sport Communicators (CSC) identified their Academic All-District teams this week, and Louisville softball placed five Cardinals on the Division I list. CSC honors baseball and softball across four divisions of collegiate athletics. The district-level is the only subset prior to the CSC Academic All-American honor, which is voted on via national ballot of specific players from the district list. 

Louisville's five honorees were Bri Despines (JR), Maddi Grant (SR), Char Lorenz (R-FR), Easton Lotus (R-JR), and Alyssa Zabala (JR). The award is the first for Grant, Despines, and Lorenz, and the second for Lotus and Zabala. This marks Zabala's second straight CSC All-District award, as Louisville's ace was honored for her 10 wins with a 4.00 ERA over 140 innings pitched this season. 

In her first year with the team, Despines hit .318 with 37 runs, 47 hits, and 37 RBI. Defensively, she led the team in putouts (narrowly edging Grant (1B) 226-221) and had 12 assists with only five errors. She allowed just four passed balls and caught four runners stealing. Grant, as mentioned, was steller at first, tying with Taylor Monroe for the team lead in double-plays turned (9) and tallying just three errors on her way to a .987 fielding percentage. With 233 fielding opportunities, that percentage is stellar, and it led the team among players with at least 50 chances. Grant also hit above her career average with a .236 clip in 106 at bats (the most of her career by a long shot). She tallied 25 hits, 10 runs, and 13 RBI with two homers. 

Easton Lotus returned from injury with a strong season. Louisville's primary leadoff hitter tailed off a bit down the stretch, but still finished second on the team with a career high .357 batting average. She had 65 hits and 16 walks, which contributed to her 38 runs scored. Her five triples were tied for the team lead, as were her 18 stolen bases. As the leadoff, she didn't get a ton of opportunities, but she still managed to knock in 26 RBI. 

You'll notice that a lot of the stats so far have been "tied for" or "second on the team". That's because Char Lorenz was that good. How she was only second-team All-ACC is beyond me, but I guess it speaks to the quality of the players in the league. Lorenz led the team in average (.368), OPS (1.130), doubles (11), triples (tied; 5), home runs (9), and RBI (53). She walked 17 times and was hit by eight pitches. She also stole 13 bases. Defensively, she was no slouch in left field, fielding .967 with 87 putouts, two assists, and just three errors. Lorenz is the only one of the five Cards on the All-District list to be tabbed for the national ballot, so we'll keep an eye on her potential ascension to the All-American ranks. 

Until next time, Go Cards!

Case

PS: To give everyone an early heads up, the CCRHP hiatus will continue this week. We intended to return on Saturday, but host outages mean we'll have to skip another episode.