Mya Jones Named CACC Rookie Of The Year As Four From Softball Earn All-Conference Honors

New Haven, Conn.-Wilmington University junior shortstop Lexi Moore has been named the 2023 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Softball Player of the Year, CACC Commissioner Dan Mara announced on Tuesday. Moore, who was also voted onto the All-CACC First Team, earned the honors via a vote of the league's 13 head coaches.

Wilmington (35-12, 21-3) claimed three of the four major individual awards from the CACC on Tuesday. Wildcat sophomore Kylee Gunkel was voted the conference Pitcher of the Year, and, in a vote by the league's sports information directors, Wilmington head coach Mike Shehorn was selected the CACC Coach of the Year. Mya Jones of the University of Bridgeport was tapped as the Rookie of the Year, while Alliance University was chosen the winner of the annual CACC Team Sportsmanship Award.

Moore is the second Wildcat to win the CACC Player of the Year Award, joining Rosa'Lynn Burton in 2019. She leads the conference in batting average (.468) and hits (74) and is second in on-base percentage (.491) and stolen bases (32). Her 53 runs scored sit third in the league. She helped Wilmington to its first CACC regular-season championship.

The right-handed Gunkel tossed five shutout innings during Wilmington's 6-0 victory over Goldey-Beacom College during last Saturday's opening round of the CACC Championship tournament, running her season record to 17-4. She tops the conference with a 1.48 earned-run average, is tied for second in wins, third with 132 2/3 innings, and sixth with 92 strikeouts.

Jones was also elected to the All-CACC Second Team at third base for Bridgeport (28-21, 16-8), playing its first season in the conference. She is second in the league only to Moore with a .439 batting average, while her .488 on-base percentage is third and her .671 slugging percentage fourth. She has collected 15 doubles, seven home runs and 52 runs batted in.

Shehorn, in his 10th season leading the Wildcats, is the CACC Coach of the Year for the first time. Wilmington, which has advanced to the four-team double-elimination portion of the CACC playoffs as the top seed, is ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Division II East Region.

Alliance was chosen by the league's head coaches as the team that best demonstrated outstanding character and class during the regular season. Alliance is led by head coach Jeff Aumend.

The league's coaches also voted on the All-CACC First and Second Teams, which are listed below. Caldwell University and Wilmington led the way with six overall selections.

The CACC Championship tournament continues on Thursday when Georgian Court University hosts the three-day, four-team double-elimination segment on its Lakewood, N.J., campus. More information is available at https://www.caccathletics.org/sports/Championship/2022-23/SOFT

2023 CACC SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Lexi Moore (Wilmington University)

2023 CACC SOFTBALL PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Kylee Gunkel (Wilmington University)

2023 CACC SOFTBALL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Mya Jones (University of Bridgeport)

2023 CACC SOFTBALL COACH OF THE YEAR
Mike Shehorn (Wilmington University)

2023 CACC SOFTBALL TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Alliance University

2023 CACC SOFTBALL ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM
1B Kaitlyn Stufft (Georgian Court University)
2B Courtney Grundhauser (Caldwell University)
3B Daisha Howard (Felician University)
SS Lexi Moore (Wilmington)
C Sam Gomez (Thomas Jefferson University)
OF Vienna Chierchia (Felician University)
OF Taylor Gillis (Wilmington University)
OF Gabby Simms (University of Bridgeport)
P Mariah Culver (Caldwell University)
P Kylee Gunkel (Wilmington University)
P Olivia Kennedy (Caldwell University)
DP Alexis Velotta (Felician University)
UTIL PLAYER Sara Miller (Wilmington University)
UTIL PITCHER Samantha Schiebe (University of Bridgeport)

2023 CACC SOFTBALL ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM
1B Maya Rodriguez (Caldwell University)
2B Hailey Kim (University of Bridgeport)
3B Mya Jones (University of Bridgeport)
SS Ashleigh Tavaska (Caldwell University)
C Adriana Mungo (Georgian Court University)
OF Sierra Albritton (Bloomfield College)
OF Jayda Jones (Georgian Court University)
OF Taylor Lipkins (Georgian Court University)
P Madison Burns (Caldwell University)
P Delani Sheehan (Wilmington University)
P Riley Williams (Felician University)
DP Jess Reed (Wilmington University)
UTIL PLAYER Janelle Adams (Alliance University)
UTIL PITCHER Danielle Walters (Bloomfield College)

ABOUT THE CACC
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 13 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Alliance University, Bloomfield College, University of Bridgeport, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Dominican (N.Y.) University, Felician University, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Post University, Thomas Jefferson University, and Wilmington University.