Jefferes and Barone Highlight Wooster NCAC Awards

Loir Jefferes

Natalie Barone

Head coach Lori Jefferes and junior pitcher Natalie Barone (Akron, Ohio / St. Thomas Aquinas) took home two of the North Coast Athletic Conference's top awards as announced by league officials on Tuesday, May 10, to highlight The College of Wooster's softball season. Jefferes and Barone were named co-Coach- and co-Player-of-the-Year, while also earning All-NCAC recognition were senior centerfielder Kate Henley (Wooster, Ohio / Wooster) and sophomore Maria Gonzalez (Millersburg, Ohio / West Holmes), who took home first- and second-team honors, respectively.

In her sixth year at Wooster, Jefferes earned her first postseason distinction after leading the Scots to a tie for second-place in the conference regular season (9-5) and a third-place showing in the NCAC tourney, despite being picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll. Overall, Wooster finished 18-19, broke single-season records for runs scored (156) and stolen bases (49), and reeled off a school-record tying nine-game winning streak around mid-season. Jefferes, who has been Wooster's softball coach since the program returned to varsity status in 2000, is now just two wins shy of 100 for her career (98-109-1). She finished tied in the voting with Sandra Sanford of Allegheny College, who led the Gators to a 9-5 mark in league play and their second consecutive NCAC Tournament title.

Barone was named co-Pitcher-of-the-Year, sharing the award with Ohio Wesleyan University's Claire Martin, after shattering several conference and school marks. As the workhorse of Wooster's staff, Barone set new league marks in appearances (34), games started (32), complete games (32), and innings pitched (226.0). She also broke two Scot records held by her sister, Angie Barone, including wins in a single season (18) and career shutouts (16). This is the third All-NCAC award of Barone's career, as she also picked up second-team honors as a pitcher in 2004, and honorable mention as a utility player in 2003.

Kate Henley

Maria Gonzalez

Henley rounded out her career by becoming the first Wooster softball player to earn a fourth all-conference distinction, and this was her first All-NCAC First Team selection. The 2005 season was one of Henley's best, as she set career highs in nearly every major offensive category, including batting average (.330), hits (37), and RBI (12). Henley, who was also named to the NCAC All-Tournament Team, tied the Scot single-season record for runs scored (22) and finished her career as the leader in that statistic (64) as well. She finished her career ranking among Wooster's top-five in 10 offensive categories.

Earning second-team All-NCAC honors was Gonzalez, the Scots' first baseman for most of the year. Gonzalez was one of the most dangerous hitters in the conference and set new school records for home runs (5), RBI (31), and total bases (66) and tied Henley with 22 runs scored this season. She finished the spring with a .318 batting average (35-for-110) to go with 10 doubles, three triples, and eight stolen bases. One of the highlights of Gonzalez's season was a six-RBI performance against Wittenberg University, in which she connected on the second grand slam in school history. This is her first postseason honor at Wooster.