LAREDO, Texas – With less than 24 hours until the first pitch of the Heartland Conference Tournament in San Antonio, the league announced five honors for four Texas A&M International players. The Dustdevils earned Freshman of the Year honors, two first team All-Conference Team honors and two second team All-Heartland Conference honors.
TAMIU shortstop Brenda Parnin blitzed the conference as one of its most consistent middle infielders, cementing her as Freshman of the Year and a first team at-large selection. Senior outfielder Esmeralda Gonzalez joins Parnin on the first team.
Heartland Conference Hitter of the Week recipient Cassandra De Leon and senior No. 1 pitcher Kyndall Reaves received second team honors.
Parnin, a San Antonio native, made an immediate impression, starting and playing all 53 of the Dustdevils' games – including 15 against top-25 nationally ranked opponents. She produced a .327 batting average to rank third on the team – behind De Leon and Gonzalez – with the team's second-most official at-bats. She scored 26 runs off a team-high 54 hits – including 15 doubles, two triples and six home runs. Her 42 RBI paced the team, with the second-highest total trailing by nine. She posted a team-high .552 slugging percentage and laid herself down with three sacrifice-fly outs.
Defensively, she posted a .911 fielding percentage with 105 putouts and only 17 errors.
Gonzalez, a San Antonio native, started all 44 games she appeared in with a team-leading .329 batting average. She hit safely in 48 of 146 at bats and eventually scored 35 runs while batting in nine RBI. She belted 13 doubles and one home run to post a .438 slugging percentage and a .373 on-base percentage. She struck out only 14 times, the fewest on the team. Defensively, she completed 67 putouts with just four errors for a .947 fielding percentage.
De Leon, a Corpus Christi, Texas, native, slugged a team-leading seven home runs with a team-best .329 batting average. In 155 at bats, she hit safely 51 times and scored 28 runs. She ripped 11 doubles and 33 RBI for a .535 slugging percentage and a .395 on-base percentage. At third base, she completed 53 putouts and 100 assists with only 11 errors for a .933 fielding percentage.
Reaves, a Montgomery, Texas, standout, was a force from the pitcher's circle and the batter's box. As a pitcher, she went 6-11 while starting 21 of the 22 games she appeared in. Her 3.21 ERA stands as a team-best, accompanying her team-leading 15 complete-game efforts, 55 strike outs, 57 earned runs and 124 1/3 innings pitched. She led the Dustdevils in virtually every pitching category, allowing just 158 hits, 34 walks and 18 home runs against 512 batters. She made only two wild pitches and allowed opponents to a .309 batting average.
Offensively, Reaves contributed as well with a .218 batting average, two home runs and 20 RBI in just 133 at bats. Nine of her 29 hits were extra-base smacks and she committed only four errors in the field for a .930 fielding percentage.
The Dustdevils finished the regular season 19-34 overall and 10-14 in the Heartland. The team lost only six home games all season, scoring 10 or more runs in six games.
The No. 3-seeded Dustdevils will face No. 2 St. Edward's in the Heartland Conference Tournament's first game at noon on Thursday. The postseason tournament is a double-elimination competition with an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division II Softball Tournament on the line. No. 1 St. Mary's faces No. 4 Texas of the Permian Basin at 3 p.m. on Thursday.
The two winners of Thursday's games face each other on Friday, as do the two losing teams from Thursday. The championship games will be played on Saturday. Information regarding the Heartland Tournament's ticket and broadcast information can be found on the Tournament Central website, at http://godustdevils.com/news/2014/4/28/SB_0428141040.aspx?path=softball.
