Fiessinger captains C-N softball All-Decade Team
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Two-time All-American and reigning SAC Scholar Athlete of the Year Abby Fiessinger has been selected as the captain of Carson-Newman’s softball’s all-decade team, released Monday morning by the Carson-Newman Athletic Communications Office.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Two-time All-American and reigning SAC Scholar Athlete of the Year Abby Fiessinger has been selected as the captain of Carson-Newman's softball's all-decade team, released Monday morning by the Carson-Newman Athletic Communications Office.
Carson-Newman went 343-168-1 over the last 10 years with two SAC regular season and tournament crows, plus six NCAA regional appearances, including the program's first as a regional site host in 2019.
The All-Decade team was selected by head coach Michael Graves, assistant coach and former shortstop/second baseman Kristen Toppel, Director of Sports Medicine Mike Van Bruggen and the Voice of the Eagles Adam Cavalier.
On the field, Fiessinger goes down as one of Carson-Newman's all-time greats. She is just the second two-time All-American for the program since it transitioned to Division II. She earned All-America honors as a freshman at second base from the D2CCA before being recognized as an outfielder as a junior unanimously by the NFCA and D2CCA.
She was also named the Southeast Region Player of the Year for her efforts last season. She closed out her career as an Eagle ranked in the top-five in several Carson-Newman statistical categories including, being second in total bases with 381, second in intentional walks with four, fourth in home runs with 29, fourth in sacrifice flies with five, fifth in on-base percentage at .473, fifth in hits with 225, and fifth in hit by pitch having been hit 28 times.
Fiessinger is one of three four-year players to hit .400 for a career at Carson-Newman.
Fiessinger is one of three All-American outfielders on the first team and one of seven All-Americans in total. Bre Lockett grabbed first team honors in 2015 after leading the league in batting average (.452), on-base percentage (.545) and slugging (.841).
Meanwhile, Kelli Hensley put together a season for the ages in 2014 en route to an accolade from Daktronics. She is still Carson-Newman and the SAC's hit queen, with 92 knocks in that year. Her .492 batting average is still the third highest in league history and second best in school history. Hensley garnered SAC Player of the Year honors following the that campaign.
Bri Shoemake earned All-America honors at catcher in her junior year in 2011. A 210-game starter for the Eagles at the backstop, Shoemake's 255 career hits rank fourth all-time for C-N.
Lacie Rinus registers as an All-American at pitcher, while Allison Rager garnered league pitcher of the year honors in her lone season with C-N.
Rinus has earned All-America two times in her career, as both a freshman and a sophomore. She has tallied 541 strikeouts in her tenure on the banks of Mossy Creek – ranking fourth all-time. Rinus earned Pitcher of the Year honors as a freshman before notching Player of the Year honors from the league as a sophomore. Meanwhile Rager was the SAC's Pitcher of the Year honoree in 2019 when she led the league in ERA and shutouts. Rager logged a senior day no-hitter and a regional no-hitter that year.
Carson-Newman's final All-Americans come in the middle infield in shortstop Brittany Hefner and second baseman Elayna Siebert.
A transfer from Walters State, Hefner showed up in a big way in her first season. Hefner was the conference and nation's leader for RBI with 75. That total reset the single season record for both the SAC and Carson-Newman. Hefner obliterated a school record for home runs in a year with 19 – setting that school record in early March before the season reached its midpoint. Hefner finished second in the SAC on the single season homerun chart. She nearly won the first ever triple crown in SAC history, she was second in the league in batting average with a .451 figure.
Siebert stocked her trophy case full with a pair of CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, first team utility All-America honors from the NFCA and a final nine sport for the NCAA's Woman of the Year Award. Siebert batted .365 in her four-year career and her 221 hits are fifth most in school history.
The corner infielders are two of the steadiest players in Carson-Newman softball history. At third base, Sara Kelley still holds the school record for most games played and started with 215 and home runs with 35. She has the second most doubles with 55.
Lance is the program's all-time leader for putouts and total chances with 1,747 and 1,838, respectively. She started 208 of 211 games at first for C-N.
First Team
P – Lacie Rinus
P – Allison Rager
C – Bri Shoemake
1B – Caitlyn Lance
2B – Elayna Siebert
3B – Sara Kelley
SS – Brittany Hefner
OF - Abby Fiessinger
OF – Bre Lockett
OF – Kelli Hensley
Second Team
P – Alli Webster
P – Mary Shealy
C – KaraLynne Levi
1B – Sara Little
2B – Kristen Toppel
3B – Whitney Kee
SS – Leah Sohm
OF - Haley Taylor
OF – Haley Caldwell
OF – Leah Price
