Six Highlanders Earn All-Conference Honors, Fisher Earns Scholar-Athlete of the Year

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Led by Sydney Fisher's Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor, the Radford softball team had six players earn end-of-the-year awards the conference announced on Monday.

Not only was Fisher on the All-Academic Team with the Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor, she was also a member of the First Team All-Conference. Along with the senior on first team was Talia Douglas and Riley Oakes. Autumn Slemaker was the lone Second Team All-Conference member, while Madison Canady and Jessie Marvin made in on the Big South Honorable Mention Team.

It's the first time in program history the Highlanders have had back-to-back Scholar-Athlete of the Year winners as Hunter Mundy brought home the hardware in 2020. Fisher becomes the third Big South Softball Scholar-Athlete of the Year at Radford. On the field, it's Fisher's second time earning First Team All-Conference honors.

This is Douglas' third time earning a postseason award after earning All-Freshman status in 2018 and Second Team status in 2019. For Marvin, Slemaker, Canady and Oakes it's their first time earning all-conference honors.

Fisher led the Big South with 67 hits – 15 more than the next best batter. She led the conference in batting average as well. The senior had hits in every game but 12 and tallied 17 multi-hit games. She had a career-high three doubles in a game against USC Upstate. She tallied a career-high four RBIs in a game against Longwood. She was tied for the team lead with 13 doubles.

She was also named a Senior CLASS Award Top 10 Finalist. Fisher has an overall 4.0 GPA with a double major in biology and chemistry and an emphasis in biochemistry and animal studies. Fisher does research in soil sample analysis and aquatic insect identification. She presented soil sample analysis and aquatic insect identification in her research at Radford University's Winter Creative Activities and Research Days (CARD) and will be presenting her new research later in the year.

Douglas was top 10 in the conference in batting average, on-base percentage, RBIs, hits and home runs. She was tied for the Big South leader in RBIs. She scored the most runs and tallied the most home runs this season out of any year in her career. She also tallied 17 stolen bases – eight more than her previous season-high. She also tallied a season-best 119 assists in the hot corner.

A big-time two-way player, Oakes held opponents to a .248 batting average – ranking inside the top 10 in the Big South. Offensively, she was sixth in the league in hits and runs scored. In the circle, she tallied at least one strikeout in 12 of the 13 games she appeared in. 10 of those games saw multi-strikeout performances. She tallied 12 hits against the other three teams that made the Big South Tournament.

Slemaker ranked inside the league's top 10 in RBIs, triples, home runs and sac bunts. Had one of her best games in the series-clinching victory over Winthrop when she blasted two home runs and tallied three RBIs. She acquired a career-high four RBIs against Presbyterian. Totaled six multi-RBI games this season.

Canady was second in the conference with 36 RBIs – which was the most on the team. She was third in the Big South with 11 doubles and was second on the team in that category. Drew 14 more walks and grew her on-base percentage by .075 percentage points.

Marvin ranked third in the league with 151.1 innings pitched. She struck out 79, which was the most of any season for the Gillsville, Ga., native. She's the only pitcher to rank inside the Big South's top 10 in saves and wins. She's also the only pitcher in the Big South with double-dight wins and multiple saves. 22 of her 79 strikeouts came on a called strike.

2021 BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE SOFTBALL AWARD WINNERS

First-Team All-Conference
OF    Destini England, Gr., Campbell
OF    Sydney Fisher, Sr., Radford
OF    Bri Bryant, R-Jr., Campbell
1B     Sydney Jacobsen, Jr., Longwood
2B    Brooklynn Brewington, Jr., Charleston Southern
SS    Sarah Price, Soph., USC Upstate
3B    Talia Douglas, Sr., Radford
C      Peyton Darnell, Fr., USC Upstate
P      Sydney Backstrom, Sr., Longwood
P      Georgeanna Barefoot, R-Fr., Campbell
DP    Madyson Watson, Gr., Winthrop
UTL   Riley Oakes, Soph., Radford

Second-Team All-Conference
OF    Macy McCall, Soph., Winthrop
OF    Claudia Ware, R-Soph., Campbell
OF    Bre Cooper, Fr., USC Upstate
1B     Ansley Gilreath, Gr., Winthrop
2B    Tiffany Domingue, Fr., USC Upstate
SS    Autumn Slemaker, Soph., Radford
3B    Delany McDilda, Fr., Campbell
C      Taylor Charlton, Sr., Winthrop
P      Mallie Brown, Jr., USC Upstate
P      Haley Haselden, Sr., Presbyterian College
DP    Kayla Fredendall, R-Jr., Campbell
UTL   Mason Basdikis, Jr., Longwood

Honorable Mention All-Conference
Weslyn Almond, OF, Sr., Gardner-Webb
Madison Canady, 1B, Soph., Radford
Nia Green, OF, Soph., Longwood
Leslie McNeil, UTL, Soph., Gardner-Webb
Jesse Marvin, P, Jr., Radford

All-Freshman Team
Bre Cooper, OF, Fr., USC Upstate
Georgeanna Barefoot, P, R-Fr., Campbell
Peyton Darnell, C, Fr., USC Upstate
Delaney McDilda, 3B, Fr., Campbell
Kayla Howald, P, R-Fr., Campbell
Aisha Weixlmann, P, Fr., Winthrop
Bailey Warren, OF/DP, Fr., Winthrop
Kaitlyn Tucker, SS, Fr., Winthrop
Lauren Fox, OF, Fr., Longwood
Kaitlyn Tucker, 2B/SS, Fr., Presbyterian College
Tiffany Dominque, 2B, Fr., USC Upstate
Savannah Brown, P, Fr., USC Upstate

All-Academic Team
Destini England, OF, Gr., Campbell
Annah Junge, P, Soph., Charleston Southern
Brooke Perry, P, R-Sr., Gardner-Webb
Yndeiah Kilby, OF, Soph., Hampton
Alexis Wayland, C, Jr., Longwood
Katelyn Petty, Jr., Presbyterian
Sydney Fisher, OF, Sr., Radford
Sarah Price, SS, R-Soph., USC Upstate
Ansley Gilreath, 1B, Gr., Winthrop

Player of the Year
Destini England, OF, Gr., Campbell

Pitcher of the Year
Sydney Backstrom, Sr., Longwood

Freshman of the Year
Bre Cooper, OF, USC Upstate

Coach of the Year
Sharonda McDonald, Campbell

Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Sydney Fisher, OF, Sr., Radford

Six Highlanders Earn All-Conference Honors, Fisher Earns Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Players Mentioned

Madison Canady

Talia Douglas

Sydney Fisher

Jessie Marvin

Hunter Mundy

Riley Oakes

Autumn Slemaker

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