Six USC Aiken softball players have been named to the Peach Belt Conference all-conference teams, as announced by the league office Thursday night.
Payton Baker, Jena Dewalt and Austyn Dixon have been named to the first team while Skylar Morley, Lakyn Phillips and Mallory Shaver earned second-team honors.
Baker, a junior from Denver, N.C., recorded 13 victories and tossed 18 complete games. She threw a shutout and combined with Marlena Perez on another one. Baker picked up a team-best two saves on the year while throwing 153â…” innings. She struck out 154 batters and had a 2.87 ERA. Baker struck out 13 batters in the victory over Benedict, 11 in the win at Flagler and 10 in the win at Anderson. She's in the top 10 this year for the PBC in ERA, opposing batting average, innings pitched, batters struck out, wins and saves.
Dewalt, a senior from Newberry, played in 46 games. Her .386 batting average was second on the squad. Dewalt recorded 51 hits, including 11 doubles, five home runs and a team-best four triples. She drove in 23 runs, scored 36 times and led the squad with 17 steals. Dewalt posted a .644 slugging percentage, a .474 on-base percentage and a 1.118 OPS. She had a team-best 16 multi-hit games and 11 multi-run games on the season. Dewalt is fifth on the career list with 45 steals. She's in the PBC top 10 this year for batting average, on-base percentage, triples and stolen bases.
Dixon, a freshman from Kings Mountain, N.C., led the team with 13 doubles, 13 home runs, 53 RBI, 106 total bases, 52 hits, a .746 slugging percentage and a 1.178 OPS in 48 games. She was third on the team with a .366 batting average. Dixon's 13 home runs and 53 RBI are the second most in each category in school history for a single season. She registered 15 multi-hit contests and a team-high 18 multi-RBI games on the year. She ranks in the top 10 in the PBC for slugging percentage, RBI, doubles, home runs and OPS.
Morley, a senior from Gambrills, Md., sported a .315 batting average. She registered 39 hits on the season and scored 26 bases. Morley's 15 steals were second on the team. She notched a pair of doubles and the first two triples of her career this season and garnered a .726 OPS. Morley has career highs for runs, (26), hits (39), doubles (2), triples (2), slugging percentage (.363) and on-base percentage (.363) this year. She is in the top 10 of the PBC this year for single-season steals and is eighth on the career list in school history with 42 steals.
Phillips, a junior from Lexington, registered 14 victories on the year. She tossed 151â…“ innings and threw 15 complete games. Phillips moved into a tie for first place on the career saves list during the season. She struck out 170 batters and threw four shutouts. Phillips posted 14 strikeouts at Columbus State, 11 in the wins over Belmont Abbey and Georgia College and State and tossed 10 at Augusta. She's in the top 10 in the PBC for ERA, opposing batting average, innings pitched, batters struck out, batters struck out looking, wins and saves.
Shaver, a junior from Mint Hill, N.C., led the team with a .395 batting average. She accounted for 45 hits, including eight home runs, five doubles and a triple. Shaver drove in 27 runs while scoring 16 times. She accounted for a .667 slugging percentage, a .481 on-base percentage and a 1.148 OPS while playing in 43 games. On the USCA career list, Shaver is third in home runs (25), fifth in RBI (101) and tied for ninth in total bases (250). She's in the PBC top 10 for batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and OPS.
