Winegard leads three all-region picks

INDIANOLA, Iowa – Chelsea Winegard led a group of three Simpson softball players on the 2012 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Midwest Region team, as announced Monday.

Winegard earned first team honors, Simpson's first, first-teamer since 2008. Carissa Coopman and Kacee Arey landed on the third team.

A junior from Muscatine, Iowa, Winegard was a second team all-Iowa Conference selection after leading the league with a .452 batting average in her first season as a full-time starter. She led the team with a .489 on-base percentage and tied Coopman with a team-high five triples. She drove in 23 runs, hit one homer and didn't commit an error in 37 chances in right field. After the first 20 games of the season, Winegard led the nation with a .552 batting average.

A senior from Davenport, Iowa, Coopman was a first team all-Iowa Conference pick, hitting .371 with team-highs in triples (5), home runs (7), slugging (.669), stolen bases (7) and RBIs (38). She ranked third in the league in RBIs and carried a .975 fielding percentage at first base. She garnered Iowa Conference Player of the Week honors for the week ending Feb. 26 after hitting .471 with two home runs and six RBIs in six games at the Finlandia Dome Tournament.

A junior from Lucas, Iowa, Arey was a second team all-Iowa Conference honoree. She closed the season ranked second in Division III with 26 wins, going 26-15 with a 2.25 ERA in a school-record 43 appearances. Her 26 wins are tied for third-most by a Simpson pitcher in a single season and are the most since Laurie Dowd won the same number of games in 1989. Only Kelly Schade has won more games in a season.

The Storm went 29-15 in 2012, finishing third in the Iowa Conference with a 10-6 record. Simpson reached as high as No. 4 in the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Rankings. Simpson went 2-2 at the Iowa Conference Tournament and narrowly missed an at-large bid to the 61-team field making up the NCAA Championship.