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The teams are selected by members of the College Sports Information
Directors of America (CoSIDA). The award is widely recognized as the
most prestigious in collegiate athletics.
Perrucci, a senior outfielder/pitcher from Duluth, Georgia, led
the Mountain Lions to a program best (NCAA era) 43 wins to date
as Young Harris qualified for its second consecutive trip to the NCAA
Division II Softball Tournament. The three-time All-Peach Belt per-
former is ranked 25th in NCAA Division II in runs per game (1.05). She
is currently ranked second in the PBC in at-bats (203), in runs scored
(59) and games started (28), third in hits (71) and plate appearanc-
es (220), fourth in triples (4) and pitching appearances (34), fifth
in wins (17) and ERA (2.24), sixth in strikeouts (130), and 10th in
innings pitched (146.2).
Perrucci, who has a 3.94 cumulative grade point average as an
interdisciplinary studies major, has been named to the Peach Belt
All-Academic Softball Team twice and named to the PBC Presidential
Honor Roll three times in her career. She also earned the PBC Elite 15
Award for softball as a junior.
Coursey, a junior utility player from Sugar Hill, Ga., won the PBC
Elite 15 Award for softball in 2017. She carries a perfect 4.00 GPA
with a major in accounting and a minor in finance. A two-time PBC
Presidential Honor Roll Gold Scholar, she has also been named PBC
All-Academic.
On the field, Coursey was one of the top performing second base-
men in the region, finishing her junior campaign with a .340 average,
26 runs scored and 28 RBIs. She was tied for fourth in the PBC in
triples and was 15th in on-base percentage. A first-team All-Confer-
ence selection, she was also named All-Region by the D2CCA.
Five PBC Softball Players Named All-Americans
AUGUSTA, GA – Five Peach Belt Conference softball players were
named All-Americans as the NFCA and D2CCA released their teams.
Three North Georgia softball players were recognized by both orga-
nizations while UNC Pembroke and Armstrong State had one player
each on the NFCA team. The five players is the most in the PBC since
the 2010 season.
The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) team is select-
ed by head coaches while the Division II Conference Commissioners’
Association (D2CCA) team is chosen by sports information directors.
UNG’s Kylee Smith finished a remarkable freshman campaign with
first-team All-America laurels from the NFCA and second team from
D2CCA. The freshman from Suwanee, Ga., finished the season with a
31-6 record and 1.04 ERA. She was fourth in all of Division II with the
31 wins and also ranked in the top 10 nationally in ERA and strikeouts
(254). She also led the conference in complete games (21), shut-
outs (8), innings pitched (248.2) and was second in batting average
against. A first-team All-Conference selection, she was named the
PBC Tournament Most Valuable Player and the NFCA National Pitcher
of the Week on March 1.
Sydney Sprague was tied for the conference lead in home runs
with 14 on the season and she was tied for sixth with 47 RBIs. A
junior shortstop from Columbus, Ga., she hit .338 in 60 games for
the Nighthawks. Her 19 doubles and 72 hits were second-most in
the PBC and she was 13th in the league in slugging percentage.
A second-team All-Conference selection, she was equally good in
the field, ranked 10th in the league in assists. Sprague was named
second-team All-American by both the NFCA and D2CCA.
Stephanie Hartness led the PBC with a .444 batting average in
2016-17