OKLAHOMA CITY – In the midst of one of its best seasons in program history, the Mid-America Christian softball team placed six on the All-Sooner Athletic Conference Team on Tuesday. The Evangels landed a team record five on the First Team, headlined by senior pitcher Katie Long earning the league's Newcomer of the Year award while head coach Robert Wakefield was tabbed as the SAC Coach of the Year.
In her lone season with the Evangels, Long put up unprecedented pitching numbers. The Norman, Okla. native set the program's single season wins record with 17 while also recording an NAIA era record 170 strikeouts, the second-most in SAC this year. Her 1.23 ERA ranks fourth in the SAC and is currently on-pace to set the MACU single season record as well.
In his 10th season with the Evangels, Wakefield has thus far led MACU to a 33-14 (.703) overall record, the team's fourth 30-win season in the last eight years. MACU also put together its best record since joining the SAC in 2008, compiling a 21-9 (.700) league mark.
Mid-America Christian was the only team in the SAC to place two pitchers on the first team as senior Regan Martin was also named to the First Team as well as to the Gold Glove Team.
Martin is just the fourth Evangels player to be named the All-SAC Team three times in her career, garnering her first First Team honor after earning Second Team accolades in 2018 and 2019. This season, Martin has compiled a 15-7 record with a 2.13 ERA in 23 games. Martin has walked just 28 batters to 80 strikeouts and has been phenomenal in the field, recording a .970 fielding percentage with just two errors in 67 chances.
Becoming the first Evangels player to garner two All-SAC First Team honors, sophomore first baseman Olivia Roberts earned her way back onto the team after being named the SAC Freshman of the Year in 2020. The Mustang, Okla. product recorded a team-high 32 RBIs, ranking seventh in the SAC in that category while also notching the team's second-highest batting average (.354) to go with the second-most doubles (12) and the second-most homers (2).
In her first year as a starter, sophomore outfielder Kassie Martin joined her sister Regan on the first team after being the team's top hitter in 2021. Martin swatted a team-high .370 batting average, ranking 10th in the SAC while leading the league with 17 doubles. Martin drove in the team's second-most RBIs (30) as well as finished third on the team in runs scored (31).
In her first season as a full-time starter, Cailey Parsells blossomed at the top of the Evangels batting order. The Oklahoma City product was the team's leader in both runs scored (36), the sixth-most in the SAC and stolen bases (34), blowing away the program's single season record and placing third in the SAC in that category. Parsells leads the team with a .470 on-base percentage while her .347 batting average is the third-highest in the lineup.
Rounding out the All-SAC honorees, senior outfielder Faith Hollingsworth was selected to the All-SAC Second Team for the second straight year. In the 2021 campaign, the Burkburnett, Texas native led the team with five homers, the sixth-highest mark in the SAC to go with three doubles and two triples. Hollingsworth is batting .291 on the year and currently holds the third-most RBIs (21) to go with 22 runs scored.
The National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) also announced its 2021 All-Central Region Team on Tuesday, with Long being named the region's Player of the Year, Wakefield garnering Coach of the Year while both Kassie and Regan Martin along with Parsells were tabbed to the All-Region list.
Mid-America Christian will find out await to see if it will be competing in either the NAIA National Championship Tournament or the NCCAA World Series. If the Evangels aren't selected to the NAIA Tournament, they will receive an automatic berth to the NCCAA World Series from May 18-20 in Easley, S.C.
