VALDOSTA, Ga. – Valdosta State softball junior Samantha Richards was named D2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) South Region Pitcher of the Year for the second-straight season, while teammate Nikki Pennington earned D2CCA First Team honors at shortstop for the second-straight year.  Graduate student Ally Clegg (3B) and sophomore designated player Katie Proctor were named to the second team.
 
Click here for the D2CCA All-South Region Softball Teams.  Richards and Pennington will move onto the national ballot for All-America consideration.
 
Richards, a native of Alpharetta, Ga., earned GSC Pitcher of the Year honors for the second-straight season and was named to the 2022 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II Player & Pitcher of the Year Top 25 list, announced Monday.  Richards is 25-8 this season with a 1.64 ERA in 208.2 innings of work.  She has appeared in 36 contests with 27 starts and 26 complete games, along with throwing six shutouts and has registered two saves.  Richards has allowed 153 hits, 79 runs – 49 earned, walked 57 and fanned 281 as teams are hitting .197 against her. 

Nationally speaking, Richards is second in complete games with 26, while she is 46^th nationally in ERA (1.64), 17^th in appearances (36), seventh in strikeouts (281), 18^th in strikeouts per seven innings (9.4), fourth in victories (25) and 48^th in WHIP (1.01).  She eclipsed 500 career strikeouts this season and set the school-record for strikeouts (581) surpassing previous school record-holder Katie Newton's 580 strikeouts.  The 581 K's are good for eighth all-time in GSC history as she is just 26 shy of Sage Woodham's (UAH) 607 strikeouts (2006-09).  Richards boasts a 57-18 record for her career.
 
Pennington, a native of Palm Bay, Fla., has had another outstanding season for the red and black and she earned first team all-conference honors this season for the second-straight year.  Pennington has played and started in 42 games with a .341 average for second on the team.  She has 46 hits for second on the team, with 37 runs scored, seven doubles and is tied with Clegg for the team-lead in home runs with 14.  Pennington has driven in 42 and is slugging .704 for the season, while reaching base at a .415 clip.  She is 5 for 5 in stolen bases and has four sacrifice flies to lead the team.  Nationally speaking, Pennington is tied for second in the GSC and 23^rd nationally in home runs as she led the nation in home runs in 2021 with 24.  She has 44 home runs for her VSU career which is good for fourth all-time in school history in home runs. 
 
Clegg, who transferred to VSU this season from Coastal Carolina, also has had a standout season as she is third on the team in average at a .329 clip as she is one of three Blazers to start all 45 games this season.  Clegg has 48 hits to lead the team, while scoring a team-high 42 runs with nine doubles, 14 home runs and a team-high 45 RBI. She is slugging .678 for the season and reaching base at a .412 clip with 19 walks for second on the team.  Defensively, she has 55 putouts in 138 chances with 72 assists at the hot corner.
 
Proctor, a native of Ringgold, Ga., earns all-region honors for the first time.  She leads the team with a .359 average in 40 games played and 35 starts mostly at designated player.  She has 37 hits with 11 runs scored, seven doubles, seven home runs and 35 RBI.  Proctor is slugging .631 and reaching base at a .450 clip with 17 walks on the year.   
 
The No. 12-ranked Blazers open NCAA South Regional play Thursday at 3 p.m. versus Rollins College in the 3/6 matchup at the University of Tampa.  Check back with vstateblazers.com on the softball schedule page for links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more for the regional championship.