May 25, 2007

(B)all-American

Star earns stripes – Anna Ball named NAIA All-American

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio –The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has released its 2007 Softball All-America squads, and Notre Dame’s Anna Ball (So/Bellville, OH) was named to the Second Team.

Selection of the team took place in conjunction with the NAIA Softball National Championship in Decatur, Ala., which concluded Wednesday.

This season, Ball hit .496 while knocking in 56 runs en route to earning the American Mideast Conference’s (AMC) Player of the Year Award.  As a right-handed batter, she clubbed 26 extra-base hits (20 doubles, six home runs) and sported an NDC-record .770 slugging percentage.  The sophomore slugger from Belleville, Ohio, has etched her name on several pages of the school record book through just two seasons.  Only 10 of the 40 players earning 2007 All-America honors are freshmen or sophomores.

In 2007, Ball set NDC single-season records for hits (69), runs batted in (56), and on-base percentage (.550), while tying her own single-season mark for batting average – she hit exactly .496 both this season and last.  Through the 2007 season, Ball is also the career school record holder in several categories, including batting average (.496), RBI’s (93), and doubles (44).

In the 2007 season, Ball was the AMC’s most dominant batter.  She led the circuit in six categories, including batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.

Nationally, the Falcons’ third baseman ranked in the top-30 in six categories including runs batted in per game (1.27, 7th) and doubles per game (.46, 8th).

“Anna is very deserving of this award," said NDC Head Coach Tom Spencer. "She is a fantastic player who is always working to get better.  Even on our off days, she is in the cages working on something.”

202 schools participate in NAIA Softball.  In 2007, Notre Dame posted a 33-11 record, including a victory over Point Loma University (CA), which was the eventual runner-up in the NAIA National Championship Tournament.

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Notre Dame College is a co-educational liberal arts institution in South Euclid, Ohio. The Notre Dame Athletics Department sponsors the Falcons' participation in 17 men's and women's sports. The College is affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the American Mideast Conference (AMC), which is the largest NAIA conference in the country.