Photo by WJU Athletics The honors and awards continue to roll in for Wheeling Jesuit pitcher Mallory Chapman.

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. — After saving her best overall season for her final one, Wheeling Jesuit’s Mallory Chapman was selected for the D2 Conference Commissioner’s Association Softball All-Atlantic Region first team announced Monday.

The four-time All-Mountain East Conference performer earns first team utility/pitcher honors within the region voted upon by the Atlantic Region Sports Information Directors.

The 2018 All-MEC first team pitcher and conference All-Tournament Team player led the Cardinals (27-24) to the program’s first conference title-game appearance. In the postseason tournament, Champman won three games, including two victories over regular-season champion West Virginia Wesleyan, to go along with a 0.76 ERA over 36.2 innings. At the plate, she hit .412 (7-for-17) with a six-RBI contest against the same Bobcats team.

Chapman fanned 11-plus batters in three games including 13 Fairmont State and 12 West Liberty hitters in back-to-back performances. She set a career-high with 202 strikeouts this season to only 57 walks and held a 1.74 ERA covering 237.0 innings. Chapman has also posted her third 15-plus-win season going 19-15 with five shutouts and a .218 batting average against. She finished her four-year career with 682 career strikeouts and 68 wins in 811 innings of work.

At the plate, Chapman led the Cardinals with 14 doubles, five home runs, 76 total bases, 28 RBI and a .500 slugging percentage. She was also second in walks (21), while she hit safely in 35 of the WJU’s 51 games, including an eight-game hit streak. Chapman hit .309 in 152 at-bats and stole three bases. Over her career, Chapman registered a .302 batting average with 24 doubles, 15 home runs and 69 RBI.

Chapman and the All-Atlantic Region First Team selections move on to the national ballot.

West Liberty’s Amend Second Team

West Liberty freshman pitcher Makenzie Amend became the first Hilltopper to earn All-Region honors in the past five seasons when she earned a second-team berth.

A hard-throwing right-hander from nearby Wheeling Park High School, Amend wasted little time establishing herself as one of the most dominant pitchers in the Mountain East Conference.

Also a second-team All-MEC selection by the league coaches, the workhorse hurler went 14-11 while also collecting two saves and posting a 1.53 ERA for Coach Herb Minch’s Hilltoppers.

Amend ranked among the MEC leaders in multiple categories, averaging more than a strikeout per inning with 180 whiffs in 178.2 frames, while giving up only 115 hits and holding opposing hitters to a minuscule .187 batting average.

The ace carried two no-hit bids into the seventh inning and held the opposition to three hits or fewer on nine occasions. She hit double-figures in strikeouts six times, highlighted by season-high 13-strikeout games against Indiana (Pa.) and UVa-Wise.

West Chester (Pa.) swept the two major regional awards. Outfielder Bri Garber was named Atlantic Region Player of the Year while WCU hurler Amanda Houck was the Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year.

All first-team selections advance to the national ballot for the 2018 D2CCA All-America Team, which will be announced later this month.

All-Tourney Honors for Hilltoppers Duo

BECKLEY — After leading the West Liberty baseball team on its run to the third day of the Mountain East Conference Tournament, a pair of seniors were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Starting pitcher Justin Retzer and outfielder Justice Jackson represented Coach Eric Burkle’s Hilltoppers on the list of All-Tournament standouts, which was revealed late Sunday night at the conclusion of the four-day event.

Retzer, a right-hander, turned in the most dominant mound performance of the weekend in the offensive-minded tournament. The veteran hurler completely shut down Concord in WLU’s tournament opener, holding it to three hits while striking out nine batters in a nine-inning shutout.

Jackson, a speedy center fielder from Wheeling Park, went 5-for-11 during the Hilltoppers’ three games with two singles, a double and a pair of triples. He drove in three runs and scored three more while posting a .909 slugging percentage to go along with an astronomical 1.409 OPS.