LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Headlined by a trio of First Team honorees, the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) had nine student-athletes named to the 2024 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division III All-Region X (West) team it was announced last Friday.
Texas Lutheran led all SCAC programs with four selections, followed by St. Thomas and Trinity with two selections each and Centenary with one honoree. This year marks the ninth consecutive full season the SCAC has placed six or more student-athletes on the NFCA All-Region squad.
Representing the SCAC on the First Team was Texas Lutheran’s Ashlyn Strother, St. Thomas’ Chloe Bennett and Centenary’s Mackenzie Cox.
Strother, a senior pitcher from Seabrook Texas, was named SCAC Pitcher of the Year for the fourth consecutive season earlier this month and is making her fourth consecutive appearance on the All-Region First Team. Strother closed the season with a league best 0.95 ERA, 131 strikeouts, 19 wins and eight shutouts. Historically, Strother is first all-time in SCAC history with a career 0.95 ERA, second with 84 wins and second with 599 strikeouts.
Bennett, a sophomore catcher from Waller, Texas, elevated to the First Team after earning Third Team All-Region honors a season ago. The two-time First Team All-SCAC honoree finished her year first in the conference in RBI (42), second in slugging percentage (.686), fourth in batting average (.441) and fifth in doubles (13). Bennett is the first Celt in program history to earn First Team All-Region honors.
Cox, a senior from Alexandria, La., is making her All-Region debut on the First Team. A four-time First Team All-SCAC honoree, Cox was one of the top players in the conference, as she led the SCAC in triples (4) and was second in runs scored (48), hits (61), OBP (.541) and stolen bases (49). She also finished third in batting average (.466) and fourth in slugging percentage (.618). Cox is the first Centenary player to be named All-Region since Anna Dunn was named to the West Region First Team in 2018.
In addition, four SCAC players were named Second Team All-Region, Texas Lutheran’s sophomore second baseman Caelee Clark, sophomore outfielder Annie Kay and junior utility player Kylee Jack and St. Thomas’ Rebecca Archibald. All four earned First Team All-SCAC accolades this year and Clark and Archibald are both making their second consecutive appearance on the All-Region Second Team.
Rounding out the SCAC All-Region honorees were Trinity teammates Hannah Boudreaux and Jordan Arce who were named to the Third Team. Boudreaux, a first-year utility player, earned First Team All-SCAC honors, while Arce, a sophomore pitcher, secured Second Team All-SCAC accolades this year. Both athletes helped Trinity post a school record 31 wins this year and advance to the SCAC Championship game for the second time in the last three years.
The awards honor student-athletes from the Association’s 10 regions with selection to one of three teams. NFCA member head coaches nominate and then vote for the winners in their respective region.
If they were not already voted to an All-Region squad, conference Players and Pitchers of the Year from member institutions are added to the third team in their region, so long as they are nominated by their member head coach and receive votes.
All honorees move forward to be considered for selection for the three NFCA Division III All-America squads, which will be announced May 29 online and on-site at the NCAA Division III Finals banquet in Marshall, Texas.
To view the entire NFCA All-Region Teams, click here.
