NFCA All-Region Teams

Bridgewater State's Shannon Grindle, Framingham State's Kelsi Gunarathne, Dayna Marchant and Worcester State's Sydney Despres, Dakota Smith-Porter earned National Fastpitch Coaches Association honors as announced by the organization on Wednesday.

A third team honoree, Grindle batted .404 (42-104) over 35 games in 2018 with nine home runs, nine doubles, 26 runs scored and 34 runs batted in. The Halifax, Massachusetts product also walked 28 times and posted a .534 on base percentage and a .750 slugging percentage..

Grindle led the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) in home runs, walks and defensive put outs (238). She also ranked second in the conference in slugging percentage, third in both doubles and on base percentage, fourth in RBI and total bases (78), fifth in batting average, eight in hits (42) and ninth in runs.

Earning first team accolades, Marchant, a four time All-MASCAC first team honoree, had an outstanding senior season that saw her hit .493 with 71 hits including seven doubles, five triples and 26 RBI. Marchant, who is the FSU career hit leader, surpassed the 200 career hit mark during the season and also holds the record for hits in a season (71).

Gunarathne, the 2017 MASCAC Pitcher of the Year and two time All-MASCAC honoree, led the league in just about every pitching category this season to earn a spot on the NFCA third team.  Gunarathne made 28 appearances including 22 starts with 16 completes games. She went 16-8 in the circle with a 1.88 ERA in 145.1 innings of work. Gunarathne led the MASCAC in ERA, strikeouts (129), innings pitched, strikeouts per seven innings (6.21) and wins.

Despres earned a spot on the New England Region First Team, as she helped the Lancers to the MASCAC Regular Season title and top seed in the tournament. She ended the 2018 season leading not just her team and conference in batting average, but has been atop the NCAA Division III rankings in batting average over the past three weeks with a .570 average. The MASCAC Player of the Year logged a league-best .877 slugging percentage and a .609 on-base percentage this season as she tallied 65 hits, 11 doubles and eight home runs, scored 47 runs, and hit home 35 runs. Behind the plate in the catchers spot, she had 159 puts outs and was a part of four double plays. Four times this season, she was 4-for-4 at the plate. She also registered her 200^th career hit in the sweep over Becker College on April 26.

Smith-Porter earned a spot on the New England Region Third Team after being named the MASCAC Pitcher of the Year last week. The senior pitched 88 innings, netted a 3.58 ERA with 51 strikeouts, 10 wins, nine complete games, including three shutouts with an opponent batting average of .289 and averaged 4.06 strikeouts per game. Smith-Porter also was an offensive threat this season, as she batted .455 with a .500 on base percentage. She led the MASCAC in doubles (11) and RBI (37).

All-Region players are nominated and selected by NFCA member coaches in each of the eight Division III regions. First team All-Region choices are eligible for selection to the NFCA All-America team, which will be announced the evening of May 23 online at NFCA.org and in person at the NCAA Division III Championship banquet in Oklahoma City.

Releases courtesy of Bridgewater State, Framingham State and Worcester State Sports Information