Lake Forest College Sports Information
May 25, 2006
Contact: Mike Wajerski, SID

Lake Forest Sweeps Midwest Conference South Division Awards
Foresters win Position Player, Pitcher, and Coach of the Year honors

  

Midwest Conference
South Division...

Pitcher of the Year
Ashley Closson (top-left)

Position Player of the Year
Melissa Wegner (top-right)

Coach of the Year
Tina Johnson (right)

LAKE FOREST, IL - The All-Midwest Conference softball teams and the sport’s other end-of-season awards were announced Thursday (May 25). Six Lake Forest players made the list and the Foresters swept the MWC South Division’s three major awards.

Senior Ashley Closson (Murphysboro, IL/Murphysboro) claimed South Division Pitcher of the Year honors for herself after sharing the award in 2005. She finished the season with an 8-5 record, 3.12 earned run average, and team-high 82 strikeouts. She won three of her four starts against divisional opponents and was 2-0 with a 0.50 ERA at the MWC Tournament with a victory in the championship game.

Fellow senior Melissa Wegner (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) was named South Division Position Player of the Year. She led the Foresters with a .413 batting average, .461 on base percentage, 32 runs scored, and 15 stolen bases. The team’s shortstop was also second on the squad with 43 hits, 10 doubles, six home runs, and a .702 slugging percentage. She batted .432 with three homers and 11 RBI in 13 league games.

Head Coach Tina Johnson received the MWC Coach of the Year award for the first time in her three years at Lake Forest. She led the squad to a conference-best 10-3 league record and the program’s fifth consecutive MWC title.

In addition to Closson and Wegner, junior Erin Watts (Evergreen Park, IL/Evergreen Park) and sophomores Christy Condon (Brookfield, WI/Brookfield East) and Kendra Grant (Bothell, WA/Bothell) were selected to the South Division’s First Team. Watts set a school record with 37 RBI and ranked second on the team with a .406 batting average, 31 runs scored, 79 total bases, and nine stolen bases. She batted .455 during league play. Condon’s 10 home runs are also a new team record and she led the squad with 82 total bases and a .719 slugging percentage. She led the MWC with a .513 batting average, seven home runs, and 17 RBI during conference games. Grant paced the squad with an 11-5 record and 2.02 ERA on the season. She won five of her six starts and added a save during MWC games.

Junior Lisa Jeziorny (Orland Park, IL/Carl Sandburg) was Lake Forest’s lone representative on the South Division’s Second Team. The catcher led the team with a dozen doubles and ranked among the top three on the squad with a .394 batting average, six home runs, 26 runs batted in, a .688 slugging percentage and a .432 on base percentage.

All-Midwest Conference Release