SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- After a career-best season in which she batted .349 with eight home runs and 42 RBIs, Sacramento State senior catcher Marissa Navarro was the recipient of second team all-Pacific Region honors, it was announced today by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA).
Navarro becomes the 10th Sacramento State softball player to receive all-region honors since the Hornets joined the Div. I ranks in 1990.
The all-region teams were selected by Div. I coaches from each of the 10 regions, and each of today’s honorees will now be eligible for selection to one of three 2012 NFCA Division I All-American teams (announced at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, May 30, on NFCA.org).
The Pacific Region consists of teams from the Pacific-12 Conference, Western Athletic Conference, Big West Conference, Mountain West Conference and Pacific Coast Softball Conference (PCSC). Navarro was one of just two catchers honored from the region, including first team selection Alexa Peterson of Oregon. A total of 12 players were selected to the first team, and 14 to the second team.
Navarro recently received second team all-PCSC Coastal Division honors after starting all 46 games of the 2012 season, including 44 of those starts behind the plate. The PCSC’s Coastal Division boasts two of the top catchers in the nation as the division’s first team honoree (San Diego’s Taylor Hensley) was named second team all-West Region.
Navarro led or tied for the team lead in batting average (.349), hits (51), doubles (10), home runs (8), RBIs (42), total bases (85), slugging percentage (.582), walks (17) and on-base percentage (.415). The Manteca, Calif., native had a career-high 12-game hitting streak during the season which tied for the sixth longest in the program’s Div. I era.
Navarro’s 42 RBIs are tied for the second most in Sacramento State’s single-season history, and her average of 0.91 RBIs per game ranked among the top 50 best individual marks in the nation. She led the Hornets with 13 multi-RBI games, recording at least three RBIs in seven different games. That included a career-high five RBIs in a victory at Nevada.
A clutch hitter all season, she batted .367 with runners on base, .367 with runners in scoring position, and a team-best 17 of her RBIs came with two outs in an inning. Navarro upped her home run total every year, and finished with 15 career round trippers, the fourth best mark in school history.
Sacramento State concluded its 2012 season last month with a 27-19 overall record and a 10-9 mark in the PCSC. The team’s .587 overall winning percentage ranks as the fifth best mark in the team’s Div. I era.
For a complete list of all the all-region teams, click here or on the link above the story.
