STARKVILLE, Miss. - The National Fastpitch Coaches Association has announced four BYU softball players have been named 2012 NFCA Division I All-Region.
Senior outfielder Delaney Willard and junior shortstop JC Clayton were named to the All-Region First Team while sophomore pitcher Tori Almond and senior second baseman Stacie Toney were named All-Region Second Team. All four Cougars are first-time All-Region honorees.
The all-region teams were chosen by NFCA member coaches from each region, and all the honorees will now be eligible for selection to one of three 2012 NFCA Division I All-American teams.
Willard, a senior from Camarillo, Calif., was named Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year this season after leading the conference in batting average, slugging percentage, on base percentage, RBI, doubles, home runs and total bases. Willard has 88 RBI on the season, second most in the nation and just two behind the BYU record. The senior is currently ranked in the top 25 nationally in nine different categories.
From Hollister, Calif., Clayton is an All-WAC First Team selection who tied for the conference lead in batting average and led the league in hits while coming in second in runs scored and triples. Currently ranked 20th in the nation with a .428 batting average and fourth in the country with 77 hits, Clayton is on a 14-game hit streak coming into the NCAA tournament and is the first shortstop in school history to be named All-Region.
Almond has an 18-3 record this year with a 2.07 ERA and 139 strikeouts in 121.2 innings pitched. The South Jordan, Utah, native's .850 regular season win percentage was the best mark in a regular season in BYU history. Just a sophomore, Almond is already ranked seventh in strikeouts and eighth in wins among all BYU pitchers.
A senior from Farmington, Utah, Toney is second on the team with 42 RBI, 91 total bases and 10 doubles. Most recently named the WAC Tournament MVP after helping BYU win the championship, Toney is listed in the top 10 in seven different WAC batting categories. Toney is also a Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-Region selection with a 3.77 GPA.
In all, 23 Cougars have been named All-Region in program history and have had at least three selections every year since 2007.
The 2012 NFCA Division I All-America teams will be announced at 4 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, May 30, on NFCA.org.
To view all of the 2012 NFCA Division I All-Region teams, click here.
Four Named to All-Region Teams
