Grimm and Ladines Earn NFCA All-Region Honors
5/19/2016 5:43:00 PM | Softball
2016 NFCA Division I All-Region teams
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After leading Kent State to its second consecutive Mid-American Conference regular season championship, juniors Maddy Grimm and Ronnie Ladines have garnered All-Mideast Region honors, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) announced on Thursday. Grimm is a First Team selection at third base, while Ladines is a Second Team selection at the utility/pitcher position.
This is the second year in a row that Grimm has received First Team recognition, and she joins Pauline Maurice (1990-91) as the only Golden Flashes to be named to the All-Mideast Region First Team in multiple years. A Third Team selection as a freshman, Grimm is just the second Kent State player to be a three-time NFCA All-Region honoree (Kylie Reynolds, 2007-08, 2010).
An All-MAC First Team selection for the second straight year, Grimm set new single-season records for runs scored and total bases, while finishing one short of tying the records for home runs and walks. Her 18 home runs ranked 11th in all of NCAA Division I, while her 51 runs scored were the most in the conference. Grimm led the Flashes in batting average (.327), hits (55), doubles (13), RBIs (39), total bases (124), slugging percentage (.738), walks (35), on-base percentage (.449) and assists (116).
The lefty slugger is Kent State's all-time leader in home runs (50) and RBIs (137) and will enter her senior season in position to break the career records for runs scored, total bases and walks.
Ladines enjoyed a breakout season both in the circle and at the plate, as she surpassed her previous career totals in victories and hits en route to being an All-MAC First Team selection. She won 23 games, which is tied for the fifth-most in program history and ranked second in the MAC with eight shutouts. Ladines pitched 202.2 innings for the Flashes and held opponents to a .220 batting average and owned a 2.54 ERA. She recorded 206 strikeouts, threw a complete game in 27 of 31 starts and had victories against six teams playing in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship.
Offensively, Ladines had a .314 batting average and displayed pop in her bat with eight doubles and four home runs, which included two grand slams. She drove in 24 runs in just 102 at-bats.
Led by interim head coach Eric Oakley, Kent State won the fourth-most games in program history and finished the 2016 season with a 37-22 overall record while capturing the program's sixth MAC regular season title. As a team, the Flashes set new single-season records for games played (59), at-bats (1,537), hits (408), RBIs (238), walks (183) and innings pitched (385.1).
The all-region teams were voted on by NFCA member coaches from each respective region, and all the honorees now become eligible for selection to one of three 2016 NFCA Division I All-American squads, which will be announced on Wednesday, June 1.
