LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A trio of first team honors for seniors Cheyenne Cordes and Danielle Henderson and freshman Jazmyn Jackson highlight Cal’s five National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region selections.
Cordes and Jackson earned first team nods as outfielders, and Henderson was voted to the first team as a utility player. Senior shortstop Britt Vonk earned All-Pacific Second Team membership, and sophomore Kylie Reed was awarded third team laurels as a second baseman.
A total of 371 players from 153 programs were chosen to All-Region squads. All-region teams were voted on by NFCA member coaches from each respective region, and all the honorees now become eligible for selection to one of three 2015 NFCA Division I All-American teams. The 2015 NFCA Division I All-America teams will be announced on Wednesday, May 27 on the NFCA website.
Entering postseason play, Jackson leads the Bears in multiple offensive categories – batting average (.446), hits (78) and steals (17-for-17), all while playing errorless defense in all 49 of her starts in center field.
This is Cordes’ third consecutive All-Pacific honor. She earned first team honors as a shortstop in 2014 and second team honors as a shortstop in 2013. This season, Cordes has smashed the single-season RBI record of 60 set by Valerie Arioto in 2012 and 2010 with 72 RBIs to date. She’s currently third all-time for RBIs with 180, behind Haley Wood (191) and Arioto (186), and in the top five for career home runs (5th, 45) and total bases (3rd, 406). She leads the Bears in home runs (15), doubles (10) and total bases (121).
Like Cordes, Henderson has climbed her way up the Cal record charts with 53 career home runs – two behind all-time leader Veronica Nelson’s 55 – and is in the top five for career RBIs (5th, 165), walks (3rd, 159) and total bases (4th, 384). Henderson is currently 11th nationally in walks this season (50) and 22nd with her on base percentage (.550). She’s claimed a spot on the All-Pacific team every year of her career, including another pair of first team honors in 2012 and 2013.
Vonk is batting .431 this season after registering a hit in all but five Pac-12 games this season and paces the Bears in runs with 53 for 165 runs scored in her career, which ranks third all-time. She was an All-Pacific First Team member as a freshman.
Reed was also an All-Region Third Team member as a freshman and has upped her batting average from .352 in her first year to .367 this season. Reed has missed 11 games due to injury but has 22 runs scored with 47 hits and just one strikeout, earning the title of toughest hitter to strike out across the nation.
Click here to view all the NFCA All-Region teams.
Cal begins play at the NCAA Ann Arbor Regional Friday at 12:30 p.m. PT live on ESPNU.
