VALDOSTA, Ga. – Following a South Region Championship and a berth in the NCAA Division II College World Series, the Valdosta State softball team finished the 2021 season ranked sixth in the final National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top 25, released Wednesday.
 
The Blazers capped another outstanding season with a 38-11 record overall and made their fifth trip to the College World Series.  VSU won the 2021 NCAA South Regional in thrilling fashion, defeating rival West Florida twice on the final day to claim the region championship.  The Blazers tied for the Gulf South Conference regular season title with a 25-5 record and were ranked as high as No. 2 in the NFCA Top 25 during the season.  
 
Head coach Thomas Macera, who earned Gulf South Conference Coach of the Year honors for the fourth time, finished the season with a 699-202-2 record at VSU in 16 seasons, while he is 905-276-2 all-time in coaching.  He has won three national championships in his coaching career, including the 2012 national championship for the Blazers and has two national runner-up finishes in 2010 and 2014 with the Blazers.  
 
National Champion West Texas A&M headlined the final ranking as the Lady Blazers battled back in the championship series to defeat Biola (Calif.) in the best of three series for the second national title in program history (2014).  Biola finished second as it had a torrid finish to the season going from 24^th in the poll before the postseason to second with a 26-16 record overall.  Augustana (S.D.) finished third, followed by North Georgia and Grand Valley State rounded out the top five.
 
VSU sat sixth, followed by Saint Anselm (N.H.), and West Chester (Pa.) was eighth rounding out all eight teams who qualified for the College World Series.  Texas A&M-Commerce was ninth, followed by Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) at tenth.  West Florida finished 15^th in the poll after it was receiving votes heading into postseason.  Rollins, who VSU also defeated in the regional, finished 20^th and Alabama Huntsville ended at 25^th.  Finishing sixth marked the highest finish the Blazers have had in the poll since they finished second following the 2014 season.
 
The Blazers, who were off to a terrific start to begin the 2020 season before the COVID-19 Pandemic ended the season a year ago March, responded with a great start to 2021.  After an opening-season loss to Flagler, the Blazers rattled off ten-straight victories and then won 21-straight games from Mar. 14 to May 1 for a 32-3 record overall and a 25-2 mark in GSC play.  
 
Following three disappointing losses at Alabama Huntsville to end the regular season by a combined four runs, VSU went 2-2 in the Gulf South Conference Championship and then hosted its eighth regional and first one since 2016.  
 
In the regional, VSU exacted revenge on UAH with an 8-0, run-rule victory in six innings to open the tournament.  In the game, the high-powered VSU offense hit three home runs in the game to tie the school-record and GSC-record for home runs in a season with 98.  VSU also had 98 home runs in 2009.  Following the victory, VSU dropped a 4-0 decision to West Florida where the Argos held the Blazers to just one hit in the game, marking the first time the Blazers had been held to one hit this season.  
 
Facing elimination, the Blazers responded with a 5-2 victory over Rollins College as the long ball returned with three more home runs to break the GSC and school record for home runs in a season for 101 round-trippers to that point.  The victory setup a rematch with West Florida in the regional final and the Blazers needed to defeat the Argos twice.  
 
Not an easy task, but the Blazers dug deep in the first game.  Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth, junior Nicole Pennington hit a two RBI triple to right center on a ten-pitch at bat and an RBI sacrifice fly plated Pennington for three runs in the frame and a 4-2 lead.  VSU sophomore hurler Samantha Richards retired the Argos in the seventh forcing the decisive game.
 
In the final game the theme of opening games with home runs in the first inning continued for the Blazers as Pennington hit a solo shot to left center for a 1-0 lead.  A pinch-hit, sacrifice fly from freshman Katie Proctor put VSU up 2-0 in the second, but a two run home run from UWF tied the game in the bottom of the frame.  VSU freshman Taylor Macera blasted a three-run shot to left center and senior Lacey Crandall hit one to left in the top of the third for a 6-2 lead.  UWF cut it to 6-4 in the bottom of the inning.  
 
From there, it was a pitcher's duel as Richards, who relieved senior Avery Lamb after 2.1 innings, went the final 4.2 innings, allowing just three hits and fanned two.  UWF's Montana Young replaced Kelsey Sweatt after 2.2 innings and allowed two hits, walked three and fanned two the rest of the way.  Sweatt took the losses for both games as she blew the lead in the first game, allowing two hits and three earned runs in one inning of relief and allowed all six runs in the second game.
 
Pennington was named the Regional's Most Outstanding Player, while Richards, freshman Aniston Gano and freshman Morgan Hill earned All-Region Tournament accolades.  Despite not hitting as well in the regional as it had throughout the season, the Blazers made the runs count when needed with ten home runs and outscored the opposition 23-12.  Richards pitched all but 2.1 innings, going 31.2 innings for the tournament, allowing 30 hits, eight runs – seven earned, walked one and fanned 18 for a 4-1 record and one shutout.  M. Hill paced the team with three home runs and hit .385 for the regional to lead the team.  Seven different Blazers had at least one home run during the tournament.
 
Heading to the national championship in Denver, Colo., the Blazers were the No. 8-seed and had to face top-ranked Augustana in the first game.  M. Hill began the game with a home run to right center on the first at bat of the game.  It marked the eighth time this season she began a game with a home run and ninth time for the team.  From there, errors proved costly as the high-powered Viking offense scored three runs on two VSU mistakes in the bottom of the inning en route to a 10-1 victory for Augie in six innings.  It was the first time VSU had been run-ruled all season.  VSU had a season-high four errors in the game leading to five unearned runs.

In an elimination game versus then-No. 2 North Georgia, the Blazers started strong once again with the long ball as senior Kiley Robb belted a two-run shot in the first and senior Logan Hill belted one in the fourth for a 3-0 lead.  Errors once again proved costly as VSU committed five errors, leading to all eight runs for UNG.  The Nighthawks scored two runs in the fifth and three in the sixth and seventh innings for the victory.   Gano hit a home run in the seventh for the 109^th home run of the season for VSU.
 
The 109 home runs hit by VSU this season marked the third-most home runs in the history of NCAA Division II.  Humboldt State hit 114 in 2013 in 67 games, while Metro State (Colo.) hit 112 in 2010 in 59 games.  The crazy part of the 109 home runs hit by the Blazers this season was it was done in just 49 games.  VSU averaged 2.22 home runs per game to lead the nation and also a new NCAA Division II Nnational record as Colorado Mesa had the previous mark of 1.93 home runs per game set in 2006 in 43 games with 83 home runs.
 
Individually, six different Blazers hit double-digit home runs in 2021, led by 24 from Pennington to lead the nation.  Pennington was second nationally in home runs per game at a 0.49 clip.  VSU had the top three home run hitters in the GSC and five of the top five in the country.  M. Hill finished with 20 home runs on the year for third nationally, while Robb was seventh nationally with 18 home runs.  Both Gano and L. Hill finished 15^th nationally with 14 round-trippers each and senior Lacey Crandall was 49^th with 11 home runs.
 
VSU led the nation in slugging percentage at a .642 clip, while it was sixth in total runs (350), ninth in on-base percentage (.424), eighth in scoring (7.14) and second in walks (199).  VSU finished 26^th in batting average for a .325 clip, while it was 21^st in hits (398).  
 
Pennington finished 47^th in hits with 58 for third in the league, while she was 28^th nationally in on base average at a .527 clip.  She finished sixth in RBI (60), sixth in slugging percentage (.958) and third in total bases (137).  
 
Defensively, VSU was 12^th nationally in ERA at a 1.75 average, while it was tenth in shutouts (13), second in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.43) and sixth in WHIP (0.97).  Richards led the nation in games started (33) in the circle and second in pitching appearances (39). She finished with a 1.36 ERA for 24^th nationally, while she was fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (10.30), third in strikeouts (237), tied for first in victories (27) and 13^th in walks allowed per seven innings (0.76).
 
Pennington, Richards, M. Hill and Robb all earned All-America honors this season as Pennington earned NFCA First Team honors and was a Top 15 Finalist for the 2021 Schutt Sports/NFCA Player of the Year.  Both Robb and M. Hill earned NFCA Third Team accolades.  Pennington earned D2CCA South Region Player of the Year honors and was a D2CCA First Team All-America selection.  Richards earned D2CCA Second Team All-America honors as did Robb and M. Hill earned D2CCA Honorable Mention All-America accolades.  
 
Along with the four players mentioned above who all earned NFCA All-South Region first team honors, L. Hill and Gano each earned second team accolades.  Richards, Robb, Pennington and Hill earned D2CCA First Team All-Region accolades, while L. Hill and Gano were second team honorees.
 
Pennington was named GSC Player of the Year, while M. Hill was named GSC Freshman of the Year and Richards was tabbed GSC Pitcher of the Year.  Robb also earned first team all-conference honors, while Gano and L. Hill each were at-large first team selections.  Pennington and Richards each earned GSC All-Tournament honors. 
 
With a wealth of experience returning for 2022, Macera and the Blazers will be poised for continued success and look to make another run at a national championship.