GREENVILLE, S.C. – The National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) announced its softball All-Americans on Friday as Mid-America Christian head coach Robert Wakefield earned the Coach of the Year honor while three Evangels earned All-American accolades.

Senior pitchers Katie Long and Regan Martin were selected to the First Team while sophomore outfielder Cailey Parsells garnered a Second Team nod.

Earning his first ever national coaching honor, Wakefield helped guide MACU to its first ever NCCAA National Championship as the Evangels cruised to a 7-0 victory over Trinity Baptist (Fla.) and 8-0 victories over Oakland City (Ind.) and Carolina (N.C.) at the NCCAA World Series last week.

Mid-America Christian closed out the championship with a thrilling 3-2, eight-inning victory Concordia-Ann Arbor (Mich.) on May 20. Before this year's tournament, the Evangels had only made two other trips to the NCCAA World Series and were unable to get a win in either of their previous trips.

Under Wakefield, the Evangels closed out the 2021 with its winningest season in program history, going 37-14 (.725) while also boasting their highest win percentage in Sooner Athletic Conference play as well at 21-9 (.700).

The 37 wins was the second-highest single season total since the program joined the SAC in 2008, sitting only behind the 2018 team that closed out the year with a 39-23 (.629) overall mark.

For the first time in program history, the Evangels had two players named to the NCCAA First Team while it is just the second time MACU has had three players earn All-American honors, the last coming during the 2018 season when Martin earned Second Team honors while Ribbin Anderson (Dorado) and Hannah Salmon were named to the Third Team.

In her lone season with the Evangels, Long shattered nearly every single season pitching record. The senior from Norman, Okla. went 19-6 in the circle, breaking the single season wins record with her last coming in an eight-inning outing during the NCCAA National Championship game. Long also turned in the program's single-lowest earned run average (1.22) while also smashing the program's single season strikeouts mark (180).

Martin was already the program's first multiple All-American and the first to garner NCCAA All-American honors, but the Sheridan, Ark. continued to add to her legacy by becoming the program's first three-time honoree and first to earn multiple First Team accolades. Martin earned First Team honors following the 2019 season while getting a Second Team nod in 2018.

The senior righty saved her best season for last, recording a career-best and the program's second-lowest season ERA at 1.97. Martin's 17 wins marked a single best for her career and ranks as the second-most in one season in the MACU record book, sitting just behind Long in that category.

Martin played a pivotal role in MACU's NCCAA World Series run, as she tossed 11 scoreless innings while holding her opponents to just a .108 batting average with one walk and six strikeouts.

Martin ended her immaculate Evangels career as the program's record holder in nearly every single category, including wins (48), ERA (2.23), saves (5), complete games (49), shutouts (17), innings pitched (492.1) and strikeouts (331).

In her first season as a full-time starter, Parsells was an impact player all over the field for the Evangels. The Oklahoma City product decimated the program's previous single season stolen base record, tallying 42 on the year while besting Ribbin Dorado's previous record of 25 set in 2018.

Parsells turned in the team's second-most runs scored on the season with 39, becoming just the eighth player since 2008 to score 39 or more times season. The speedy centerfielder also turned in the team's third-highest batting average at .327 while also playing stellar defense, recording a .986 fielding percentage by committing just one error on the season.

The 2021 MACU softball team has represented very well in the NCCAA softball postseason awards with Faith Hollingsworth receiving the Game Plan 4 LIFE Character Award, Olivia Roberts was named the NCCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player while both Long and Martin were named to the All-Tournament Team.