Louisville, Ky. – NYIT senior firstbaseman, Kat Zabielski, has been named one of 25 finalists for the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II National Player of the Year.
Zabielski is putting up monster numbers at the plate in her senior season. She currently ranks second in the ECC with a .421 batting average and leads the conference with 18 homeruns, 61 RBI, 45 runs scored, 117 total bases, 20 walks, a .517 on-base percentage, and a .967 slugging percentage.
The group of student-athletes is represented by 22 different programs and 15 conferences. Thirteen from the original Top-50 “Watchlist” made the cut with the final group consisting of 14 seniors, six juniors and five sophomores.
No. 3 Humboldt State led the way with three selections, while No. 5 North Georgia is represented by two student-athletes. The Great Lakes Valley Conference topped the list with four honorees. The California Collegiate Athletic Association and Peach Belt Conference had three apiece, while the Great American Conference, Gulf South Conference and Lone Star Conference earned two nods each.
The Top 10 finalists will be announced on May 6 and the Top 3 on May 12 with the 2016 Schutt Sports NFCA Division II National Player of the Year revealed on Tuesday, May 17.
Behind the collaboration between the NFCA and the Division II Head Coaches Committee, and the generosity of Schutt Sports, the award was created in 2015 to honor the outstanding athletic achievement among softball student-athletes throughout Division II. University of North Georgia’s Courtney Poole was the inaugural winner of the award a season ago.
To view the full list of 25 finalists for the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II Player of the Year, click here.
Contributions to the release provided by the NFCA.
