McAninch Headlines All-OAC Softball Selections; Freshman Named Pitcher and Newcomer of the Year

Rachel McAninch (West Jefferson/West Jefferson)

(ADA, OH)--Mount Union freshman Rachel McAninch (West Jefferson/West Jefferson) earned both the Ohio Athletic Conference John Wells Pitcher of the Year and Robert Jordan Rookie of the Year awards to headline the 2010 All-OAC teams selected by the conference's 10 head coaches.

In 121.1 innings pitched, McAninch had a conference-best 1.62 ERA and was among OAC leaders with 77 strikeouts. Her 14 wins (14-3 overall) was the most by a Mount Union freshman since All-American Lindsay Royer won 17 in 1995 when she swept both awards.

Named for longtime Muskingum pitching coach John Wells, McAninch is the second Purple Raider, Royer did it twice, to be named OAC Pitcher of the Year and she is the third Raider joining Royer and Crystal Thomas to win the OAC Rookie of the Year Award named for longtime Mount Union assistant coach Robert Jordan. Ironically, McAninch is sharing the Rookie of the Year Award with former high school teammate and Capital freshman Devan Boggs.

Joining McAninch on the All-OAC First Team is seniors in shortstop Meghan Simons (Minerva/Minerva) and third baseman Anna Horning (Cuyahoga Falls/Woodridge).

For Simons, it is her third All-OAC and second-straight first team selection, as she led the Raiders with a .415 batting average, nine home runs and 20 doubles. She also was named to the All-OAC Tournament team this past weekend and was a 2009 All-Central Region pick.

It is also a third-straight All-OAC selection for Horning who was named to the second team in 2008 and the first team in 2009. Horning hit .359 with seven doubles, three triples and four home runs and also was a 2009 All-Central Region and Academic All-OAC selection.

Two other Raiders earned recognition as junior second baseman Alex Lucak (Maple Heights/Trinity) was named to the All-OAC Second Team, while sophomore pitcher Bre Willis (Navarre/Fairless) was an All-OAC Honorable Mention selection.

Lucak was named to the second team for a second year in a row and started all 40 games and hit .389 with 14 doubles, three triples and five home runs. She has also been an All-Central Region, Academic All-OAC and two-time Academic All-District IV pick.

Willis had a 10-8 record with a team-best 81 strikeouts and 137.1 innings pitched to earn honorable mention honors for a second-straight year.

Mount Union went 25-15 this season and finished second in the OAC.