Photo Courtesy of Jeff Hurndon

Courtesy: GoMocs.com

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Southern Conference Release

Mt. PLEASANT, S.C. – Having already proven themselves on the field with back-to-back Southern Conference regular season championships, the Chattanooga Lady Mocs were recognized by the conference and league coaches Wednesday evening as they collected a number of major awards at the 2008 Southern Conference softball banquet.

Held on board the historic U.S.S. Yorktown aircraft carrier in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, the banquet featured the recognition of the season’s Players and Pitchers of the Week and Month as well as the announcement of the All-Conference Teams and yearly awards.

Freshman catcher Katie Blevins (Soddy Daisy, Tenn.) was recognized as Player of the Week for week two while sophomore pitcher Brooke Loudermilk (Locust Grove, Ga.) was Pitcher of the Week for weeks six, seven and ten. Freshman Kaitlin Holloway was the week nine Pitcher of the Week while Loudermilk was the Pitcher of the Month for March.

The All-Conference Tournament teams featured a total of five Lady Mocs, including four members on the first team. Freshman outfielder Lyndsey Stiles (Hixson, Tenn.) was named All-Conference Second Team as an outfielder while Brooke Loudermilk was named to the First Team at pitcher and freshman Michelle Fuzzard (Huntington Beach, Calif.) was chosen at first base. Senior shortstop Tara Tembey (Folsom, Calif.) finished in a tie for First Team honors at shortstop and junior outfielder Laci Upchurch (Madison, Tenn.) was tabbed as an outfielder.

With the announcement of the major conference awards came more hardware for the Lady Mocs. Loudermilk, the 2007 Pitcher of the Year, collected the award for a second straight year and joined Beth Alexander and current pitching coach Lacey Swarthout as the only members of Chattanooga softball to win the award in back-to-back years. It was another back-to-back of sorts for the Lady Mocs with the next award as Michelle Fuzzard was named Freshman of the Year, taking over the reins from Loudermilk, who claimed that award a year ago.

The final award on the night went, not to a player, but to head coach Frank Reed who was named 2008 Southern Conference Coach of the Year after leading Chattanooga to a 35-19 overall record, 13-5 mark in conference and back-to-back regular season championships. It is the second time Reed has won the award (2004) and he joins Karen Weekly as the only other Chattanooga recipient, also a two-time winner.

The banquet also featured the official presentation of the 2008 Southern Conference championship trophy, which was claimed by Chattanooga’s two seniors, Ashlan Clarkson (Chickamauga, Ga.) and Tara Tembey.

The Lady Mocs resume their quest for the program’s ninth tournament title tomorrow afternoon when they take on No. 5 UNC Greensboro at 3:00 p.m. in the second round of the 2008 Southern conference Tournament.